Inhibitory effect of the interferon-beta on the release of endothelial cell derived microparticles in patients with multiple sclerosis

Increased levels of microparticles (MPs) have been reported in many autoimmune diseases such as multiple sclerosis (MS). In MS, endothelial cells release MPs from their membranes following the activation of lymphocytes and the production of inflammatory cytokines. The aim of this study was to investigate the inhibitory effect of interferon beta (INFβ) on the release of endothelial cell-derived MPs (EnMPs).

Twenty newly diagnosed MS patients were included in this study. Blood samples were taken from patients in two stages before and three months after INFβ treatment. Flow cytometry was used to count and determine the phenotype of MPs. Anti-CD51 and anti-CD31 were used to tag EnMPs. In both stages, patients' MRI was also evaluated for the number of brain plaques. Data were analyzed using SPSS-23 statistical software, and kolmogorov-smirnov test.

The mean age of patients was 31.3 ± 8.3 years. The results of this study showed a 40% decrease in the level of CD31 + MPs and a 32% decrease in the level of CD51 + MPs following treatment with INFβ, which was statistically significant (p <0.001). In this study, there was no positive and significant relationship between the number of EnMPs and the number of brain plaques (p = 0.067), age (p = 0.058) and sex of patients (p = 0.061).

INFβ has an inhibitory effect on the release of EnMPs from endothelial cells and suggest that EnMPs can probably be used as sensitive biomarkers to monitor disease progression and treatment effectiveness.