The development of autoimmune encephalomyelitis provoked by myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein is associated with an upregulation of both proinflammatory and immunoregulatory cytokines in the central nervous system.

Experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) is an inflammatory disease of the central nervous system (CNS). We previously reported upregulation of gene expression for a number of proinflammatory cytokines, interleukin-1beta (IL-1beta), IL-2, IL-6, tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), TNF-beta, and interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma), in the CNS of mice with myelin basic protein (MBP)-induced relapsing EAE by using semiquantitative reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). However, in these mice there was no significant increase of gene expression for immunoregulatory cytokines (IL-4, IL-10, transforming growth factor-beta [TGF-beta]). We report here that gene expression for both proinflammatory and immunoregulatory cytokines increased during the course of disease in the CNS of mice with myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG)-induced nonrelapsing EAE. These results indicate that the gene expression pattern of immunoregulatory cytokines in the CNS may be different between MBP-induced and MOG-induced EAE and that it may influence the type of disease. Accordingly, the course of the disease may be influenced by the interplay between the proinflammatory and immunoregulatory cytokines.