Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2017 Sep 21:6:118.
doi: 10.4103/abr.abr_267_16. eCollection 2017.

The Effect of Levothyroxine on Serum Levels of Interleukin 10 and Interferon-gamma in Rat Model of Multiple Sclerosis

Cobra Payghani  1 , Fatemeh Khani  1 , Aryan Rafiee Zadeh  1 , Parham Reisi  1 , Hojjatallah Alaei  1 , Bahman Rashidi  2
Affiliations

The Effect of Levothyroxine on Serum Levels of Interleukin 10 and Interferon-gamma in Rat Model of Multiple Sclerosis

Cobra Payghani et al. Adv Biomed Res. .

Abstract

Background: There is an increase in inflammatory and a reduction in anti-inflammatory cytokines in multiple sclerosis (MS). Considering the role of thyroid hormones in the development and regulation of both neural and immune systems, the aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of levothyroxine on serum concentrations of interleukin-10 (IL-10) and interferon gamma (IFN-γ) in animal models of MS.

Materials and methods: To induce demyelination in male Wistar rats, lysolecithin was injected into the optic chiasm. Then levothyroxine was injected intraperitoneally (20, 50, and 100 μg/kg) for 21 days. Serum levels of cytokines were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay at 7, 14, and 21 days after that.

Results: The results showed that injection of lysolecithin to the optic chiasm only increased serum concentrations of IL-10 compared to the sham group (P < 0.05) at 7th day, but this increase was prevented by all doses of levothyroxine. IFN-γ was decreased significantly (P < 0.001) 21 days after. Comparing to the sham group at all sampling time and with respect to the MS group at the days 7 and 21, levothyroxine decreased serum concentrations of IFN-γ significantly.

Conclusion: The results showed that thyroid hormones probably could produce protective effects against induced demyelination through affecting immune responses.

Keywords: Interferon-gamma; interleukin-10; levothyroxine; multiple sclerosis.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

There are no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Effect of levothyroxine on serum levels of interleukin 10 after injection of lysolecithin in the optic chiasm of rats (MS is lesion group and Th is levothyroxine). Values are shown as mean ± standard error mean. *P < 0.05 with respect to the sham group (n = 12); MS: Multiple sclerosis
Figure 2
Figure 2
Effect of levothyroxine on serum levels of interferon gamma after injection of lysolecithin in the optic chiasm of rats (MS is lesion group and Th is levothyroxine). Values are shown as mean ± standard error mean. *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01 and ***P < 0.001 with respect to the sham group; +P < 0.05 and ++P < 0.01 with respect to the multiple sclerosis group (n = 12); MS: Multiple sclerosis
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Sospedra M, Martin R. Immunology of multiple sclerosis. Annu Rev Immunol. 2005;23:683–747. - PubMed
    1. Franklin RJ. Why does remyelination fail in multiple sclerosis? Nat Rev Neurosci. 2002;3:705–14. - PubMed
    1. Stangel M, Hartung HP. Remyelinating strategies for the treatment of multiple sclerosis. Prog Neurobiol. 2002;68:361–76. - PubMed
    1. Calzà L, Fernandez M, Giardino L. Cellular approaches to central nervous system remyelination stimulation: Thyroid hormone to promote myelin repair via endogenous stem and precursor cells. J Mol Endocrinol. 2010;44:13–23. - PubMed
    1. Lachapelle F, Avellana-Adalid V, Nait-Oumesmar B, Baron-Van Evercooren A. Fibroblast growth factor-2 (FGF-2) and platelet-derived growth factor AB (PDGF AB) promote adult SVZ-derived oligodendrogenesis in vivo. Mol Cell Neurosci. 2002;20:390–403. - PubMed