Characterization of gene alterations during Macrophage Activation Syndrome associated with central nervous system disorders

Abstract

Abstract Macrophage activation syndrome (MAS) is the immense proinflammatory condition that occurs most frequently in patients with systemic juvenile idiopathic arthritis (SJIA) and systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). An important feature of MAS is central nervous system dysfunction as evident in the form of seizures as well as altered mental status. In current study, MAS was induced in C57Bl/6 female mice by repeated injections of CpG. We performed transcriptome analysis of spleen from MAS and vehicle-treated control mice. Differential expression analysis revealed significantly altered expression of 3873 genes in mice harboring MAS. Pathway analysis indicated upregulation of heme biosynthesis while downregulation of pathways involved in 14-3-3 mediated signaling, oxytocin signaling and dopamine receptor signaling. Decreased expression of genes involved in these pathways was associated with incidents of depression, schizophrenia and Parkinsonism. The major downregulated genes were dopamine receptor D5 (DRD5), glutamate decarboxylase 1 (GAD1) and protein kinase C (PRKC) family of genes. Decreased activity of these genes are reported in depression, schizophrenia, epilepsy and Parkinson’s. At the same time, significant increase in the expression of glutamate ionotropic receptor NMDA type subunit associated protein 1 (GRINA), synuclein alpha (SNCA), glucocerebrosidase (GBA) and tubulin (TUB) genes were observed in MAS induced mice. In this study, we unravel the novel pathways as well as differential expression of genes associated with central nervous system dysfunction during episodes of MAS. (Supported by NIH grants P01AT003961, P20GM103641, R01ES030144, R01AI129788, R01AI123947 and R01AI160896 to PN and MN). Supported by NIH grants P01AT003961, P20GM103641, R01ES030144, R01AI129788, R01AI123947 and R01AI160896 to PN and MN