Involvement of Peripheral Monocytes with IL-1β in the Pathogenesis of West Syndrome

Abstract

Neuroinflammation has been implicated in the pathogenesis of West syndrome (WS). Inflammatory cytokines, including interleukin-1β(IL-1β), have been reported to be associated with epilepsy. However, the assessment of cytokine changes in humans is not always simple or deterministic. This study aimed to elucidate the immunological mechanism of WS. We examined the intracellular cytokine profiles of peripheral blood cells collected from 13 patients with WS, using flow cytometry, and measured their serum cytokine levels. These were compared with those of 10 age-matched controls. We found that the WS group had significantly higher percentages of inter IL-1β, interleukin-1 receptor antagonist (IL-1RA)-positive monocytes, and interferon gamma (IFN-γ) in their CD8+ T cells than the control group. Interestingly, the group with sequelae revealed significantly lower levels of intracellular IFN-γ and IL-6 in their CD8+ T and CD4+ T cells, respectively, than the group without sequelae. There was no correlation between the ratios of positive cells and the serum levels of a particular cytokine in the WS patients. These cytokines in the peripheral immune cells might be involved in the neuroinflammation of WS, even in the absence of infectious or immune disease. Overall, an immunological approach using flow cytometry analysis might be useful for immunological studies of epilepsy.

Emerging Roles of T Helper Cells in Non-Infectious Neuroinflammation: Savior or Sinner

“…Xu et al provided direct evidence that IL-17and GM-CSF-producing gdT cells were concentrated in epileptogenic lesions from brains of DRE patients, and their numbers were positively related to disease severity, although the numbers of Treg cells were inversely related (241). Other studies involving pediatric DRE patients suggested significant changes of intracellular IFN-g concentration among CD4 + T cell populations (242), differentiated immunological parameters caused by medication choices (243), and one study on DRE patients also confirmed higher levels of PD-1 in the serum and CSF (244).…”