Sayad Arezou, Kelarijani Mohsen Khakzad, Sajjadi Elham, Taheri Mohammad
Department of Medical Genetics, School of Medicine, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
School of Medicine, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Hum Antibodies. 2017;26(1):17-22. doi: 10.3233/HAB-170316.
Multiple sclerosis (MS) as an auto-immune disease is an inflammatory, demyelinating disease of the central nervous system. Certain genes have shown to be involved in the initiation of MS but the specific role of some of them, e.g. IFNAR1 has not been identified in certain populations yet.
The IFNAR1 as a type I membrane protein shapes one of the two chains of a receptor for interferons alpha and beta.
To find out how IFNAR1 functions in the Iranian population, the researchers compared the expression level of this gene in relapsing-remitting MS (RR-MS) samples with normal individuals. RNA from the whole blood of 50 RR-MS patients and 50 normal controls were extracted. All patients were HLA-DRB1*15 negative and were responders to interferon-beta with a normal vitamin D level. The level of IFNAR1 gene expression was measured using quantitative RT-PCR.
According to the results the RR-MS patients manifested a statistically higher expression level of IFNAR1 than their normal counterparts (p= 0.012). Age-wise, females between the ages, 30 to 40 had a significant increase (p= 0.046) but males under 30 showed a statistically meaningful decrease in the expression level (p= 0.04). In terms of sex, only the female patients manifested a statistically significant increase in IFNAR1 (p= 0.004).
The overall results show an increase in IFNAR1 level in MS patients treated with IFN-B.
多发性硬化症（MS）作为一种自身免疫性疾病，是中枢神经系统的一种炎症性脱髓鞘疾病。某些基因已被证明与MS的发病有关，但其中一些基因的具体作用，例如IFNAR1，在某些人群中尚未明确。
IFNAR1作为一种I型膜蛋白，构成了干扰素α和β受体的两条链之一。
为了了解IFNAR1在伊朗人群中的作用，研究人员比较了复发缓解型MS（RR-MS）样本与正常个体中该基因的表达水平。提取了50例RR-MS患者和50例正常对照者全血中的RNA。所有患者均为HLA-DRB1*15阴性，对干扰素-β有反应，维生素D水平正常。使用定量RT-PCR测量IFNAR1基因的表达水平。
根据结果，RR-MS患者的IFNAR1表达水平在统计学上高于正常对照者（p = 0.012）。按年龄划分，30至40岁的女性有显著升高（p = 0.046），但30岁以下的男性表达水平在统计学上有显著下降（p = 0.04）。就性别而言，只有女性患者的IFNAR1有统计学上的显著升高（p = 0.004）。
总体结果显示，接受IFN-B治疗的MS患者中IFNAR1水平升高。
