Angiogenic factors are associated with multiple sclerosis

A growing body of evidence suggests that angiogenesis plays a crucial role in the pathogenesis of multiple sclerosis (MS). Animal models of MS show a significant improvement when the process of angiogenesis is halted. In this study, we measured the serum levels of vascular-endothelial growth factor (VEGF), soluble Endoglin (sEng), angiopoietin 1(Ang-1), angiopoietin 2 (Ang-2), and uric acid (UA) as well as serum anti-Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) EBNA-1 IgG in 50 MS patients (including 20 newly diagnosed and 30 patients taking IFN-beta for >6months) and 40 healthy individuals. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA) were used apart from UA where the uricase quantitative enzymatic assay was used. A significant increase of VEGF, Ang-1, Ang-2, and sEng in serum samples of MS patients with respect to healthy subjects was observed. VEGF was higher in newly diagnosed MS patients in comparison to patients taking interferon-beta and was associated with EDSS. The serum levels of UA were statistically lower in MS patients as compared to the healthy group. Higher levels of anti-EBV antibody titers were seen in MS patients than controls and anti-EBV titers correlated with angiogenic factors. It seems that in summary, angiogenesis may play an important role in MS and infection with EBV might be correlated with this phenomenon.