increased level of caspase-1 in the serum of relapsingremitting multiple sclerosis (rrms) patients

Multiple sclerosis (ms) is an inflammatory autoimmune disease of the central nervous system, in which proinflammatory cytokines play a critical role in the pathogenic formation of lesions. caspase-1 is a cysteine protease that proteolytically cleaves precursors of interleukin (il)-18 and il-1β and turns them into their active forms. these inflammatory cytokines play an important role in the development of ms. the aim of the present study was the investigation of caspase-1 and its downstream products, il-18 and il-1β, in relapsing-remitting ms (rrms) patients. in this study, we used an elisa assay to measure serum and cellular caspase-1 and serum levels of il-18 and il-1β in rrms patients in the relapse phase (n=23) and healthy age-and gender-matched controls (n=19). we observed that the caspase-1 level was significantly increased in the serum of ms patients compared to the healthy controls (p=0.03). although caspase-1 concentration in the lysate of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (pbmcs) was higher than serum among patients and controls (p<0.001), no significant difference was found in cellular levels of caspase-1 between the two groups. there was no significant difference in serum levels of il-18 and il-1β between patients and controls. in this study, we found an elevation of extracellular caspase-1, as a reflection of its intracellular level, in the serum of rrms patients during the relapse phase. therefore, it suggests being a suitable peripheral biomarker of disease activity in multiple sclerosis.