The Effect of Vitamin a Supplementation on Foxp3 and Tgf-Β Gene Expression in Avonex-Treated Multiple Sclerosis Patients Publisher Pubmed



Sabooryaraghi AA^{1, 7} ; Harirchian MH² ; Mohammadzadeh Honarvar N¹ ; Bitarafan S² ; Abdolahi M¹ ; Siassi F³ ; Salehi E⁴ ; Sahraian MA⁵ ; Eshraghian MR⁶ ; Roostaei T² ; Koohdani F¹ Show Affiliations
Source: Journal of Molecular Neuroscience Published:2015

Abstract

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an autoinflammatory condition of the central nervous system with impaired T helper (Th)17 and regulatory T cell (Treg) balance that is involved in disease immunopathogenesis. The vitamin A active metabolite, retinoic acid, can re-establish this imbalance through the modulation of gene expression of specific nuclear receptors including Forkhead box P3 (FoxP3). At present, few data exist on the impact of vitamin A supplementation on T cell balance. This study reports the results of a clinical trial, over a 6-month period, of 36 relapsing-remitting MS (RRMS) patients that received vitamin A (25,000 IU retinyl palmitate) or placebo (one capsule of placebo per day). Peripheral blood mononuclear cells were isolated from patients, and the expression of FoxP3 and transforming growth factor (TGF)-β gene expression was measured using real-time PCR at the beginning and end of the study. The results of this study showed that vitamin A upregulated TGF-β and FoxP3 gene expression. Therefore, vitamin A supplementation can be considered as a new approach in MS prevention and treatment. © 2015, Springer Science+Business Media New York.