Exploring the role of inflammatory cytokines in multiple sclerosis: A comparative perspective

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic autoimmune disease of the central nervous system characterized by inflammation and demyelination. Cytokines play a key role in MS pathogenesis and may serve as potential biomarkers for disease activity.

The objective of this study was to compare the serum concentrations of IL-2, IL-4, IL-1RA, IL-1β, TNFα, and IFNγ in Saudi MS patients with matched healthy controls using LUMINEX assay. Moreover, it investigated these levels more closely between the MS and patient groups to evaluate the inter-relationships between them and investigate their possible relevance in the pathogenesis of the disease.

All subjects (controls and patients) had their serum samples taken. The MILLIPLEX® Human Cytokine/Chemokine/Growth Factor Panel was used in a 96-well plate assay. The Z-test and Pearson's correlation coefficient were employed in SPSS Version 26.0 for Windows to determine the differences in serum cytokine concentrations between the two groups and the correlation between serum and inflammatory mediators in MS patients with a significance threshold of p < 0.05.

Most patients (73.7 %) were female, while 26.3 % were male. In the healthy control group, 81.8 % were women and 18.2 % were men. Female MS patients had an average age of 29.6 ± 7.7 years, whereas male patients averaged 33.9 ± 5.6 years. In healthy controls, females had an average age of 35±11.5 years, and males had an average age of 24±0.1 years.MS patients showed no statistical significance regarding the tested inflammatory cytokines IL-1RA, IL-4, IL-2, IFNg, TNFa, and IL-1β (p > 0.05). IL-1β level was moderately positively correlated with IL-2 (r = 0.546, p = 0.000). IL-1RA levels showed a strong positive correlation with IL-2 (r = 0.756, p = 0.000) and were moderately negatively correlated with IL-4 (r =-0.444, p = 0.001). IL-1RA levels exhibited a moderate negative correlation with IL-4 (r=-0.362, p = 0.005) and a strong positive relationship with IFNg (r = 0.809, p = 0.000) and TNFa (r = 0.805, p = 0.000).

The study findings showed elevated IL-1RA and IL-2 biomarkers in MS patients without any statistical significance. We observed positive correlations among IL-1RA, IL-2, IFNg, and TNFa and a negative correlation with IL-4, suggesting a Th1-dominant response.