Project description:Objective: To evaluate gene expression profiles in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients who improved their fatigue status after a program of physical exercise and to compare them with healthy controls (HC). Methods: A prospective longitudinal study was conducted. Gene expression in whole blood was profiled at baseline in 7 healthy controls and also in 7 fatigued-MS patients. Patients underwent a physical exercise program for 6 months, and their fatigue status and gene expression profiles were again analyzed at the end of this program. Results: MS patients showed a significant activation of genes participating in the systemic interferon response in comparison with healthy controls. Fatigue improved at the end of the physical activity program, and, in parallel, systemic activation of interferon related genes disappeared. Conclusions: Fatigue improvement following an exercise program is associated to down modulation of interferon activity at the systemic level in MS patients. Our results provide a biological basis for the observed benefit of physical exercise in MS.
Project description:Whole-genome expression of peripheral blood leukocytes was measured in 22 patients and 24 controls using the Human Gene 1.0 ST array by Affymetrix 22 Multiple Sclerosis patients with samples both in remission and relapse (2 samples for each patient; 44 blood samples in total) and 24 healthy controls were included in the study, for a total of 68 samples.
Project description:Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a neurodegenerative disease with a presumed autoimmune component. Expression profiling in immune cells can therefore be used in order to identify genes and pathways involved in MS pathogenesis. We conducted a genome-wide expression study in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) from 12 MS patients and 15 controls in order to identify differentially expressed genes and pathways in MS. PBMCs were isolated from whole blood and total RNA was extracted.
Project description:Multiple sclerosis is the most common autoimmune disease of the central nervous system. Studying whole blood RNA from a cohort of 195 MS patients and 66 healthy controls, we identified gene expression signatures for interferon treatment and disease status by microarray analysis. Blood was collected at multiple time points (up to 3 for patients, 2 for controls). Patients were either untreated or treated with Interferon. In total, 626 Affymetrix exon arrays were analyzed, split into discovery and replication data sets. This metadata file contains information on all samples processed in the discovery data set (n=212) when we compared gene expression in untreated MS patients (n=62) to healthy controls (n=41).
