Differential release of beta-chemokines in serum and CSF of patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis.

Objective: beta-chemokines were recently demonstrated in active MS-lesions. We tested whether MCP-1 and RANTES can also be detected in CSF and serum of patients with MS and whether release is associated with inflammatory disease activity.

Methods: CSF and serum from 34 patients with newly diagnosed relapsing-remitting MS (RR-MS), 17 patients with viral meningitis (VM) and 19 patients with non-inflammatory neurological diseases (NIND) were investigated by ELISA. RR-MS patients underwent lumbar puncture and Gd-enhanced MRI examinations within 2 days.

Results: MCP-1 was strong intrathecally released in all patients. Compared to NIND CSF-levels were increased in VM (P<0.001) and were decreased in RR-MS (P<0.05). RANTES was only detected in serum in all patients. Levels were higher in VM and RR-MS compared to NIND (P<0.05). A total of 14/34 RR-MS patients exhibited active Gd-enhancing lesions on MRI. They had lower MCP-1 levels in CSF (P<0.001) and serum (P<0.05) and higher serum levels of RANTES (P<0.05) as compared to patients without active lesions.

Conclusions: MCP-1 and RANTES are differentially released during acute attacks of RR-MS, which might reflect different immunregulatory roles of these beta-chemokines in RR-MS.