Serum levels of inflammasome pathway factors in clinically isolated syndrome and multiple sclerosis patients: a pilot study

Pathogenic roles of nuclear factor κB (NF-κB) pathway and NLRP3 inflammasome complex factors are involved in multiple sclerosis (MS) development. Activation of the NF-κB, NLRP3, and caspase-1 cascade results in production of proinflammatory cytokines that lead to stimulation of macrophages, lymphocytes, and glial cells. Although increased levels of inflammasome complex factors are observed in MS, contribution of inflammasome pathway to conversion from clinically isolated syndrome (CIS) to relapsing remitting MS (RRMS) has been scarcely investigated. To examine predictive value of inflammasome factors in CIS-MS conversion, levels of NLRP3, caspase-1, and NFκB are measured by ELISA in sera of age-gender matched CIS (n = 18; 8 converting, 10 non-converting) and RRMS (n = 23) patients. CIS and RRMS patients have comparable serum levels of NLRP3, caspase-1, and NFκB. Similarly, no statistically significant difference can be found among converting and non-converting CIS patients by means of inflammasome complex factor levels. Inflammasome factors are presumably overexpressed at early stages of MS. Therefore, they are unlikely to be used as biomarkers to predict CIS-MS conversion.