Proinflammatory Cytokines Are Elevated in Serum of Patients with Multiple System Atrophy |
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| Authors: | Eli Kaufman Sara Hall Yulia Surova H?kan Widner Oskar Hansson Daniel Lindqvist |
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| Affiliation: | 1. Department of Clinical Sciences, Section for Psychiatry, Lund University, Lund, Sweden.; 2. Department of Clinical Sciences, Lund University, Lund, Sweden.; 3. Department of Neurology, Skåne University Hospital, Lund, Sweden.; 4. Clinical Memory Research Unit, Department of Clinical Sciences, Lund University, Malmö, Sweden.; 5. Psychiatry Skåne, Lund, Sweden.; Philadelphia VA Medical Center, United States of America, |
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| Abstract: | BackgroundDespite several lines of evidence from preclinical and post-mortem studies suggesting that inflammation is involved in Multiple System Atrophy (MSA), no previous studies have measured peripheral indices of inflammation in MSA patients.MethodsWe measured C-reactive protein, interleukin (IL)-6, soluble IL-2 receptor and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α in blood samples from MSA patients (n = 14) and healthy controls (n = 40).ResultsIL-6 and TNF-α were significantly elevated in MSA patients compared to healthy controls. After controlling for the potentially confounding effects of age, gender, and somatic co-morbidities, a diagnosis of MSA was still significantly associated with high levels of TNF-α. Higher TNF-α levels were associated with less severe motor symptoms and earlier disease stage.ConclusionsOur findings are in line with the hypothesis that inflammation might be involved at an early stage of MSA pathophysiology. |
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