Lin Ai-yu, Yang Qi-dong, Murong Shen-xing
Department of Neurology, the Affiliated First Hospital, Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou, Fujian, 350005 P. R. China.
Zhonghua Yi Xue Yi Chuan Xue Za Zhi. 2008 Apr;25(2):187-9.
To characterize the deficiency of the mRNA expression of specific protein (SP3) gene in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from Chinese patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) and study its correlation with the disease phenotypes.
Fifty-six patients with definite MS were collected and total RNA was extracted from their PBMCs. Specific primers corresponding to SP3 gene were designed and the mRNA expression of SP3 gene was detected by reverse transcriptase-PCR (RT-PCR) method. The deficiency of SP3 expression was compared among MS patients, irrelevant disease group and normal controls.
Of the 56 MS cases, 23 (41.1%) were SP3-deficient. In contrast, the frequency of SP3-deficiency in normal subjects and irrelevant disease controls was 8.6% (5/35) and 14.3% (4/27), respectively. The frequency of the SP3-expression deficiency in MS patients was significantly higher than that in both control groups (P< 0.01). Within the MS cases, the scores of expanded disability status scale (EDSS) in the SP3-expressing subjects were significantly different from that in the SP3-deficient ones in the stable, but not in the active, phase of MS (P< 0.05).
Author's observation suggested that deficient expression of SP3 gene occurs in Chinese MS patients, and that the SP3 expression may correlate with the clinical manifestations of MS and play roles in its immunological pathogenesis.
明确中国多发性硬化症（MS）患者外周血单个核细胞（PBMCs）中特异性蛋白（SP3）基因的mRNA表达缺陷，并研究其与疾病表型的相关性。
收集56例确诊的MS患者，从其PBMCs中提取总RNA。设计与SP3基因对应的特异性引物，采用逆转录聚合酶链反应（RT-PCR）法检测SP3基因的mRNA表达。比较MS患者、无关疾病组和正常对照组中SP3表达的缺陷情况。
56例MS患者中，23例（41.1%）存在SP3缺陷。相比之下，正常受试者和无关疾病对照组中SP3缺陷的频率分别为8.6%（5/35）和14.3%（4/27）。MS患者中SP3表达缺陷的频率显著高于两个对照组（P<0.01）。在MS患者中，处于稳定期而非活动期时，SP3表达阳性的受试者与SP3缺陷的受试者在扩展残疾状态量表（EDSS）评分上有显著差异（P<0.05）。
作者的观察表明，中国MS患者存在SP3基因表达缺陷，且SP3表达可能与MS的临床表现相关，并在其免疫发病机制中发挥作用。
