tgf-β isoforms and receptors: a gene expression analysis in multiple sclerosis patients and normal individuals

Multiple sclerosis (ms) is a chronic inflammatory disease of the central nervous system (cns), depicted by lymphocytic infiltration and demyelination. ms is associated with the up-regulation of pro-inflammatory and down-regulation of anti-inflammatory cytokines. the purpose of this experimental study was to evaluate the expression level of tgf-β1, tgf-β 2, tgf-β-r1, and tgf-β-r2 mrnas in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (pbmcs) from ms patients and healthy controls using real-time pcr. our findings indicated that the tgf-β-r1 expression level was 2.25 times higher in controls than in ms patients. also, a significant correlation between normalized expression of tgf-β-r1 and tgf-β1, or tgf-β2 was observed. therefore, these genes could likely play an important role in the etiology of ms.