Toll-like receptors 2 and 4 expression on peripheral blood lymphocytes and neutrophils of Egyptian multiple sclerosis patients.

BACKGROUND: Studies have just started delineating the role of Toll-like receptors (TLRs) in the pathogenesis of multiple sclerosis (MS). OBJECTIVES: To investigate the expression of TLR-2 and TLR-4 on peripheral blood neutrophils and lymphocytes in Egyptian patients with MS, and to examine the role of TLR-2 and TLR-4 expression as a candidate biomarker for MS diagnosis. METHODS: A total of 84 patients with newly diagnosed MS and 68 healthy controls were included in this study. The expression levels of TLR-2 and TLR-4 were assessed by flow cytometry technique using appropriate monoclonal antibodies. RESULTS: TLR-2 demonstrated a significantly higher expression on the lymphocytes and neutrophils of patients, whereas that of TLR-4 was significantly higher only on lymphocytes than those in the control group. However, there was no significant difference between patients with relapsing remitting MS and those with secondary progressive MS in terms of TLR-2 and TLR-4 expression. The expression of TLR-2 and TLR-4 on the lymphocytes and neutrophils of patients showed no significant correlation with either the duration of the disease or disability. The sensitivity and specificity of TLR-2 expression on lymphocytes and neutrophils to diagnose MS were 73.81%, 70.59%, 69.05%, and 52.94%, respectively. The sensitivity and specificity of TLR-4 expression on lymphocytes and neutrophils were 88.10%, 79.41%, 78.57%, and 76.47%, respectively. CONCLUSION: The expression of TLR-2 and TLR-4 on peripheral blood neutrophils and lymphocytes has a potential role in the pathogenesis of MS. TLR-4 expression on lymphocytes and neutrophils could be used as a potential biomarker to diagnose MS.

Tumor necrosis factor alpha gene -376 polymorphism and susceptibility to multiple sclerosis: an Egyptian study.

Tumor necrosis factor alpha, a proinflammatory cytokine, plays an important role in the clinical activity of relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis and the development of progression. Dysregulation in the expression of tumor necrosis factor gene had been suggested in the pathogenesis of multiple sclerosis. Our aim was to investigate the relationship between tumor necrosis factor α-376 polymorphism with disease susceptibility and course of multiple sclerosis in Egyptian patients. Polymerase chain reaction and restriction fragment length polymorphism were carried out on 36 primary progressive multiple sclerosis patients, 36 age- and sex-matched remitting relapsing multiple sclerosis patients (diagnosed according to McDonald's Diagnostic criteria) and 30 age- and sex-matched healthy controls. The GG genotype and the guanine allele (G) were detected significantly more often in the primary progressive (p = 0.02; p = 0.004, respectively) and remitting relapsing (p = 0.015; p = 0.024, respectively) multiple sclerosis groups as compared with the healthy control group. The G allele in the examined position in tumor necrosis factor alpha might have a role as regards susceptibility in both remitting relapsing and primary progressive multiple sclerosis.