The effects on the inflammatory axis of IL-23/Th17 cells in the mice model of experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis mediated by exogenous transforming growth factor β1

Objective:To investigate the variation of IL-23/Th17 axis in the model mice of experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis administered with exogenous transforming growth factor β1 for its possible pathogenesis.Methods:The C57BL/6 mice were immunized with MOG35-55 to establish the animal model of EAE,which was treated with TGF-β1 after immunization at multiple time points,and the expression of IL-23,IL-17 and IL-6 was analyzed by RT-PCR and ELISA.Results:Compared to those of the EAE group,the expressions of IL-23,IL-17 and IL-6 were all increased significantly at the onset(P0.05,P0.05,P0.05);And at the peak,the expression of IL-23 was down-regulated(P0.05) while the expressions of both IL-17 and IL-6 were still high(P0.05,P0.05);And during the chronic phase,it was found that there was low expression of IL-23 and IL-17(P0.05,P0.05),and the high expression of IL-6(P0.05).Conclusion:The exogenous TGF-β1 on EAE may up-regulate the expression of IL-23 and IL-17 to accelerate the progress of EAE and increase the symptom at the peak,while down-regulating their expression to ameliorate the symptom during the chronic phase.