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    J Neuroimmunol. 2007 Jul;187(1-2):205-11. Epub 2007 Jun 11.

    Postpartum-activation of multiple sclerosis is associated with down-regulation of tolerogenic HLA-G.

    Airas L, Nikula T, Huang YH, Lahesmaa R, Wiendl H.

    Department of Neurology and MediCity Research Laboratory, University of Turku, PO Box 52, 20521Turku, Finland. laura.airas@utu.fi

    We used microarray analysis to obtain insights into the immuno-regulatory mechanisms controlling pregnancy-associated MS disease activity. We studied expression levels of 5000 immune-related genes in peripheral blood mononuclear cells in patients with relapsing-remitting MS during pregnancy and postpartum and in comparison to controls. In the microarray analysis, HLA-G, a non-classical major histocompatibility molecule mainly attributed with immune-tolerogenic functions, was found differentially regulated between MS patients and controls. The finding was corroborated and extended by real-time PCR, flow-cytometry and ELISA in a larger patient sample. The results delineate an important role for the immune-tolerogenic molecule HLA-G in modulating disease activity and pregnancy-related changes in MS patients.

    PMID: 17561269 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

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