evaluating the effects of epigallocatechin-3-gallate on hif-1α protein and rorc gene expression in peripheral blood mononuclear cells in patients with multiple sclerosis

Introduction: multiple sclerosis (ms) is the chronic inflammation of the central nervoussystem (cns) and autoimmune disease. ms is most widely considered to be mediated bythe activation of myelin-specific t cd4+ cells as well as th1 and th17 cells. th17 cells areinvolved in the pathogenesis of ms in various manners. hif-1α and rorc are required forthe natural differentiation of th17; they are essential transcription factors for the evolutionof th17 cells. numerous studies indicated that epigallocatechin gallate (egcg) presentsimmunomodulatory and anti-inflammatory effects. this study investigated the effects ofegcg on normoxic hif-1α and rorc2 expression in pbmcs among ms patients.methods: peripheral blood mononuclear cells (pbmcs) were isolated from the whole bloodof new cases of ms. the cells were cultured in the presence of a different concentration ofegcg (25, 50,100μm) for 18 and 48 hours. next, hif-1α and rorc2 level expressionswere measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (elisa) and real-time pcr,respectively.results: the results showed that egcg significantly decreased rorc2 gene expression.egcg did not affect the level of hif-1α.conclusion: however, egcg did not influence the level of hif-1α. our present data has ledus to conclude that egcg could be considered as an anti-inflammatory agent may serve as anachievable therapeutic agent for ms.