different expressions of specific transcription factors of th1 (t-bet) and th2 cells (gata-3) by peripheral blood mononuclear cells from patients with multiple sclerosis

Introduction: multiple sclerosis (ms) is an inflammatory disorder caused by self-reactive th1 lymphocytes, while th2 cells may confer protection. the th1 and th2 cell differentiation are regulated by specific transcription factors, especially t-bet and gata-3, respectively. this investigation aimed to measure the t-bet and gata-3 expression by peripheral blood mononuclear cells (pbmcs) obtained from ms patients after specific and non-specific in vitro stimulation. methods: the pbmcs were separated from 22 patients with ms and 20 healthy individuals. they were cultured at 37°c for 24 h in the absence of a stimulator or in the presence of myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (mog) or phytohemagglutinin (pha) at a concentration of 10 μg/ml. then the t-bet and gata-3 expression was measured by real time-pcr. results: the t-bet expression was enhanced, while the gata-3 expression diminished. therefore the expression of t-bet/gata-3 ratio diminished in not-stimulated, mog-stimulated and pha-stimulated pbmcs from ms patients compared with equal cultures from the healthy individuals (p<0.01, p<0.01 and p<0.01, for t-bet; p<0.03, p<0.01 and p<0.02, for gata-3; p<0.01, p<0.001 and p<0.01 for t-bet/gata-3 ratio, respectively). the not-stimulated, mog- stimulated, and pha-stimulated pbmcs from men with ms expressed higher amounts of gata-3 than equal cells from ms women (p<0.05, p<0.05 and p<0.01, respectively). conclusion: these results probably indicate an imbalance in th1/th2 cells in the level of transcription factors with a tendency toward th1 cells in ms. the clinical utilization of the transcription factors as novel biomarkers of ms should be evaluated in further studies.