CYTOKINE PRODUCTION BY CELLS IN CEREBROSPINAL-FLUID DURING EXPERIMENTAL ALLERGIC ENCEPHALOMYELITIS IN SJL/J MICE

Cytokine production by T cells in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and central nervous system (CNS) of SJL/J mice during myelin basic protein (MBP)-induced experimental allergic encephalomyelitis (EAE) was examined. Reverse transcriptase/ polymerase chain reaction (RT/PCR) was used to measure interleukin-2 (IL-2) and interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) mRNA levels from perfused CNS tissue (brain and spinal cord) and from cells isolated from CSF. Animals were grouped according to EAE severity, ranging from asymptomatic (adjuvant only) to severe disease (paralysis or severe paresis). Cytokine signals, normalized to actin, were almost undetectable in control tissues, and only slightly elevated in whole CNS tissue from animals with mild EAE. Both cytokine messages were strongly upregulated in CNS tissues derived from severely affected animals, consistent with previous observations correlating disease progression with infiltration by memory/effector CD4+ T cells, the major source of these cytokines. This cytokine upregulation was specific to the CNS, since other organs from the same animals did not express significant levels of IL-2 and IFN-gamma. CSF was obtained from the cisterna magna of unperfused mice and verified as such by absence of red blood cells (RBCs) and by immunoglobulin concentration orders of magnitude lower than in serum. Cytokine message was measured in RNA isolated from cells in CSF. Levels of IL-2 and IFN-gamma mRNA in CSF cells were significantly elevated in mild EAE and strongly upregulated in severe disease, correlating with those in total CNS tissue. These results confirm the CSF as representative of the immune status of the CNS and indicate a role for IL-2 and IFN-gamma in inflammatory CNS disease.