Differential expression of interleukin-10 mRNA in Wallerian degeneration and immune-mediated inflammation of the rat peripheral nervous system

✍ Scribed by S. Jander; J. Pohl; C. Gillen; G. Stoll

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1996
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 627 KB
• Volume: 43
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0360-4012
• DOI: 10.1002/(sici)1097-4547(19960115)43:2<254::aid-jnr13>3.0.co;2-6

✦ Synopsis

Interleukin-10 (IL-10) is a potent immunosuppressant cytokine which downregulates MHC class I1 antigen expression and inflammatory cytokine production. In this study we localized mRNA for IL-10 in the rat peripheral nervous system (PNS) by nonradioactive in situ hybridization using a digoxygenin-labeled riboprobe specific for rat IL-10. IL-10 mRNA was expressed by some Schwann cells (SCs) in the normal sciatic nerve. During Wallerian degeneration, SCs strongly expressed IL-10 mRNA between days 2 and 4 after transection. By day 14 only occasional cells were positive for IL-10 mRNA. The vast majority of ED1-positive macrophages were IL-10 negative after axotomy. Contrastingly, infiltrating macrophages expressed IL-10 mRNA conincident with beginning clinical recovery in experimental autoimmune neuritis (EAN), the rat model of human Guillain-Barre syndrome. Our data suggest that SCs provide a constitutive immunosuppressant system in the PNS. In EAN additional macrophage-derived IL-10 may be important for the resolution of the T cell-mediated immune response.