The association between plasma chitotriosidase concentration and the disease activity in patients with MS

Abstract

Introduction: Multiple sclerosis is the most common autoimmune demyelinating disorder of central nervous system. The role of macrophage in myelin destruction in this disabling disease is undeniable. Chitotriosidase (Chit) is one of the mammalian enzymes synthesized and secreted by specifically activated macrophages. Recent studies indicate that Chit may have a role in the pathogenesis of MS disease. Methods: We analyzed serum obtained from 40 relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis patients and 23 healthy individuals in Iranian population. Case and control group were sex and age matched, mean age were 31.92 and 33.54, respectively. In case group, sampling was done during attack before receiving steroid pulse or immunomodulatory drugs. EDSS of patients was 1.6 (±0.86). The concentration of Chit was measured by Enzyme linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA). Results: Our results showed that there is no correlation between Chit concentration and MS disease (p = 0.87). Also, we did not find any association between Chit concentration and the disease activity in patients with MS. In addition no differences have been detected between relapsing and progressive clinical forms. Conclusion: It seems Chit does not play a key role in the pathogenesis of MS and other inflammatory mediators might be involved in this scenario. However, it should be considered that chit expression is dependent to ethnic background. In our study, negative correlation between multiple sclerosis activity and chit activity compared to control group, may be due to high expression of chit even in normal Iranian population.