Event Abstract Back to Event IL-18 and IL-18BP in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Paola Giungato1*, Paola Italiani1, Paola Migliorini2, Gabriele Siciliano3, Barbara Borroni4, Paola Bossu'5 and Diana Boraschi1* 1 National Research Council, Italy 2 University of Pisa, Internal Medicine, Italy 3 University of Pisa, Neuroscience, Italy 4 University of Brescia, Neurology, Italy 5 IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia, Clinical and Behavioral Neurology, Italy The role of inflammation in neurodegenerative diseases, included ALS, is increasingly recognized. Activation of caspase-1 has been demonstrated in the spinal cord of ALS mice and humans. To investigate if inflammasome hyperactivation is pathogenic, promoting neuroinflammation and contributing to ALS progression, we analyzed the levels of IL-18 and IL-18BP in serum and CSF from ALS patients. Serum and CSF samples were collected from 103 patients with sALS. A control group consisted of 40 healthy serum donors; a second group included 69 CSF donors, either healthy or with different kinds of non-infectious non-inflammatory diseases. Cytokine levels were measured by ELISA. The levels of free IL-18 were calculated by the law of mass action. Levels of IL-18 (21.99±14.03 pM), IL-18BP (471.54±230.50 pM) and free IL-18 (9.92±5.21 pM) were significantly higher in ALS serum than in healthy controls (IL-18: 12.12±7.24 pM, p<0.0001; IL-18BP: 268.83±165.85 pM, p<0.0001; free IL-18: 7.35±4.02 pM, p=0.0006). No correlation between cytokine levels and disease stage was found. IL-18 was undetectable in CSF, while IL-18BP was found at significant and comparable levels in both ALS patients and controls. High circulating IL-18 concentrations may suggest the involvement of inflammasome-dependent inflammation in the disease, but the lack of correlation between IL-18 levels and disease stage suggests that the cytokine is not involved in triggering the disease exacerbation. The abundant presence of IL-18BP in the CSF in the absence of its cytokine target may imply the physiological need of maintaining homeostasis in a fundamental organ like the brain. Keywords: Inflammation, Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), Cytokines, Inflammasome, Neurodegenerative Diseases Conference: 15th International Congress of Immunology (ICI), Milan, Italy, 22 Aug - 27 Aug, 2013. Presentation Type: Abstract Topic: Immune-mediated disease pathogenesis Citation: Giungato P, Italiani P, Migliorini P, Siciliano G, Borroni B, Bossu' P and Boraschi D (2013). IL-18 and IL-18BP in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis. Front. Immunol. Conference Abstract: 15th International Congress of Immunology (ICI). doi: 10.3389/conf.fimmu.2013.02.00133 Copyright: The abstracts in this collection have not been subject to any Frontiers peer review or checks, and are not endorsed by Frontiers. They are made available through the Frontiers publishing platform as a service to conference organizers and presenters. The copyright in the individual abstracts is owned by the author of each abstract or his/her employer unless otherwise stated. Each abstract, as well as the collection of abstracts, are published under a Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0 (attribution) licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) and may thus be reproduced, translated, adapted and be the subject of derivative works provided the authors and Frontiers are attributed. For Frontiers’ terms and conditions please see https://www.frontiersin.org/legal/terms-and-conditions. Received: 11 Mar 2013; Published Online: 22 Aug 2013. * Correspondence: Miss. Paola Giungato, National Research Council, Pisa, Italy, paolagiungato@gmail.com Dr. Diana Boraschi, National Research Council, Pisa, Italy, diana.boraschi@gmail.com Login Required This action requires you to be registered with Frontiers and logged in. To register or login click here. Abstract Info Abstract The Authors in Frontiers Paola Giungato Paola Italiani Paola Migliorini Gabriele Siciliano Barbara Borroni Paola Bossu' Diana Boraschi Google Paola Giungato Paola Italiani Paola Migliorini Gabriele Siciliano Barbara Borroni Paola Bossu' Diana Boraschi Google Scholar Paola Giungato Paola Italiani Paola Migliorini Gabriele Siciliano Barbara Borroni Paola Bossu' Diana Boraschi PubMed Paola Giungato Paola Italiani Paola Migliorini Gabriele Siciliano Barbara Borroni Paola Bossu' Diana Boraschi Related Article in Frontiers Google Scholar PubMed Abstract Close Back to top Javascript is disabled. Please enable Javascript in your browser settings in order to see all the content on this page.