TH1/TH2 Cytokine profile in relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis patients treated with Glatiramer acetate or Natalizumab

What Was Tested

The paper reports a study of Glatiramer Acetate in the context of multiple sclerosis, published as a controlled clinical trial.

The objective of this study was to assess Th2/Th1 cytokine profile in relapsing-remitting MS (RRMS) patients receiving an immunosuppressive treatment with natalizumab (NAT), or an immunomodulatory treatment with glatiramer acetate (GA) after one year of treatment.

Why It Was Studied

The balance between T helper cells Th2- and Th1-related cytokines plays a key role in multiple sclerosis (MS).

Who Took Part

By PubMed's age tags, the people studied were adults, men only.

All consecutive patients diagnosed with RRMS who had received GA or NAT for 12 months were included in the study.

How the Study Was Run

The methods mention a period of 12 months.

This was an observational cross-sectional study.

The researchers determined serum levels of Th1 and Th2 cytokines (interleukin [IL]-1a, IL-1b, IL-2, IL-4, IL-5, IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, IL-12p70, IL-13, monocyte chemotactic protein [MCP]-1, tumor-necrosis factor [TNF]-α, interferon [IFN]-γ and granulocyte macrophage colony stimulating factor [GM-CSF]) by flow cytometry.

Th2/Th1 bias was defined based on the ratio of IL-4, IL-5, IL-6 or IL-10 Th2 cytokines and proinflammatory INF-γ or TNF-α Th1 cytokines.

What Was Measured

The subject headings attached to it are Adjuvants, Immunologic, Antibodies, Monoclonal, Humanized, Cytokines, Glatiramer Acetate, Multiple Sclerosis, Natalizumab and Peptides.

What This Means in Plain Language

This is a controlled clinical trial of Glatiramer Acetate in people with multiple sclerosis over 12 months.

The abstract goes on to report its results in about 6 sentences; this page does not restate them, so read the paper for the findings and their limits.

The publication is from 2012 (BMC neurology), a journal based in England.

More context: the Glatiramer Acetate compound page, Multiple sclerosis research.