Fcγ receptors in Norwegian multiple sclerosis patients and healthy controls

Background - Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an immune-mediated disease of the central nervous system in genetically susceptible persons. Fc gamma receptors (Fc gamma R) are involved in autoimmune diseases. Patients and methods - Sixteen Norwegian patients with relapsing-remitting MS (RRMS) were studied to see whether treatment with either interferon-beta (INF-beta) or glatiramer acetate (GA) influenced the proportion of Fc gamma R1a, Fc gamma R2a, and Fc gamma R3b positive monocytes, granulocytes, or lymphocytes or Fc gamma R1a, Fc gamma R2a, and Fc gamma R2b mRNA levels in leukocytes. One hundred and twenty-seven patients with RRMS and 54 Norwegian healthy blood donors were also analyzed for Fc gamma R2b polymorphisms. Results - Interferon-beta or GA treatment initiated an increase in the proportion of Fc gamma R positive lymphocytes, but did not cause major influence of the long-term proportion of Fc gamma R positive leukocytes or their Fc gamma R mRNA levels. No significant differences were observed between RRMS patients and healthy controls for the genotype and allele frequencies of Fc gamma R2b polymorphisms. Discussion - INF-beta or GA treatment probably has no major role in the regulation of Fc gamma Rs on immune cells in RRMS. Furthermore, polymorphisms of the inhibitory Fc gamma R2b do not seem to influence the susceptibility for MS.