Type I interferons and chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy: Treatment or cause?

Exacerbation of Chronic Inflammatory Demyelinating Polyradiculoneuropathy during Interferon.BETA.-1b Therapy in a Patient with Childhood-onset Multiple Sclerosis

“…It was considered that IFN treatment somehow contributed to the development of CIDP. This hypothesis is supported by recent reports documenting the onset of CIDP in patients receiving type I IFN (8)(9)(10). Here, we report a female patient who developed MS in childhood and underwent interferon -1b treatment in early adult life, which caused CIDP that was successfully treated by oral corticosteroids.…”

CD4-Positive T Lymphocytes Provide a Neuroimmunological Link in the Control of Adult Hippocampal Neurogenesis

“…In this study, we show that CD4-positive T cells, regardless of their Ag specificity, are involved in maintaining physiological BNDF levels in the brain and contribute to the neurogenic microenvironment without actually infiltrating the healthy brain. Despite the fact that T cells might release BDNF, the main source of BDNF that is released in response to T cell activation will come from other cellular sources and involve a bystander effect from neural cells (24,25).…”

“…We measured baseline neurogenesis levels and the response to physical activity. Because T cells invading the CNS release brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and can activate BDNF release from neural bystander cells (24,25), we measured BDNF levels in the brain. Cognitive performance was assessed in the Morris water maze (MWM) (26).…”

Long-term efficacy of Interferon-alpha in chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy

“…Recent data showed partial functional improvement with IFN-beta in 2 of 4 cases with chronic motor neuropathies not responsive to conventional treatments [13] and in one with CIDP [3], though its efficacy was not confirmed in a controlled study on 10 CIDP patients [7]. The clinical use of IFN-alpha in peripheral neuropathies is still debated because its use in HCV infection has been associated with the occurrence of adverse effects on the peripheral nervous system [9]. Patients treated with IFN-alpha for HCV infection have been reported to develop acute axonal neuropathy, CIDP [14,15] and several types of autoimmune diseases, including thyroiditis, systemic lupus erythematosus, haematological disorders, insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus, myasthenia gravis and celiac disease.…”

“…Some data are available for treatments with cyclosporin [1,10], interferon-alpha 2 a (IFN-alpha) [4][5][6]8], and interferon-beta 1 a (IFN-beta) [3,7]. The use of IFNalpha has also been debated because of possible neurotoxic effects [9]. We report a patient with CIDP who became unresponsive to conventional treatments and experienced a dramatic and long-lasting improvement following a prolonged treatment with IFN-alpha.…”