Abstract
Background: Blood-brain barrier (BBB) breakdown is an early event in the pathogenes of multiple sclerosis (MS). In a previous study we have found a direct stabilization of barrier characteristics after treatment of bovine brain capillary endothelial cells (BCECs) with human recombinant interferon-β-1a (IFN-β-1a) in an in vitro BBB model. In the present study we examined the effect of human recombinant IFN-β-1a on the barrier properties of BCECs derived from four different species including humans to predict treatment efficacy og IFN-β-1a in MS patients. Methods: We used primary bovine and porcine BCECs, as well as human and murine EC cell lines. We investigated the influence of human recombinant IFN-β-1a on the paracellular permeability for 3H-inulin and 14C-sucrose across monolayers of bovine, human, and murine BCECs. In addition, the transendothelial electrical esistance (TEER) was determined in in vitro systems applying porcine and murine BCECS. Results: We found a stabilizing effect on the barrier characteristics of BCECs after pretreatment with IFN-β-1a in all applied in vitro models: addition of IFN-β-1a resulted in a significant decrease of the paracellular permeability across monolayers of human, bovine, and murine BCECs. Furthermore, the TEER was significantly increas, after pretreatment of porcine and murine BCECs with IFN-β-1a. Conclusion: Our data suggest that BBB stabilization by IFN-β-1a may contribute to its beneficial effects in the treatment of MS. A human in vitro BBB model might be useful as bioassay for testing the treatment efficacy of drugs in MS.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 843-852 |
Number of pages | 10 |
Journal | Multiple Sclerosis |
Volume | 14 |
Issue number | 6 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Jul 2008 |
Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- Blood-brain barrier
- Cell culture
- Endothelial cells
- Immunology
- Interferon-β
- Multiple sclerosis
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Neurology
- Clinical Neurology