Opera Medica et Physiologica

Soluble Ligands of the Tumour Necrosis Factor Superfamily sTNF-α, sFas-L, sTRAIL and sCD40L in the Pathogenesis of Viliuisk encephalomyelitis

Abstract: 

Viliuisk encephalomyelitis (VE) is a neurodegenerative disorder that afflicts the aboriginal people of Yakutia in Siberia. The disease is characterized by a progressive duration and aseptic inflammatory episodes, with intrathecal synthesis of oligoclonal IgG (OCBs) in some patients. The aim of this study was to evaluate the role of soluble ligands and receptors of the tumour necrosis factor (TNF) superfamily as potential participants in VE pathogenesis. To achieve this goal, we measured the levels of sTNF-α, sFas-L, sTRAIL, sCD40L ligands, and sCD40 receptor by ELISA in the plasma of VE patients compared with healthy individuals of the same population and patients with demyelinating diseases, including multiple sclerosis (MS) and neuromyelitis optica (NMO), as examples of disorders involving immune pathology. In addition, the same markers were analyzed in the CSF of VE patients and patients with demyelinating diseases. The results obtained showed that the increased level of plasma sTNF-α in VE patients was associated with the detection of OCBs (p = 0.01; two-tailed Student’s t-test). The sCD40L level in plasma was significantly increased in VE patients, regardless of the presence of an inflammatory component (p = 0.001; Student's t-test), and their healthy relatives (p = 0.004; Student's t-test). Our results suggested that increased blood sCD40L levels are associated with the chronic form of VE and may participate in the predisposition to the disease. Increased blood sCD40L levels may lead to pathology of the vascular endothelium in the brain and the development of VE pathology.