Research: Another action for Gilenya

Epubvan Doorn et al. Fingolimod attenuates ceramide-induced blood-brain barrier dysfunction in multiple sclerosis by targeting reactive astrocytes. Acta Neuropathol. 2012 Jul.

Alterations in sphingolipid metabolism are described to contribute to various neurological disorders. We here determined the expression of enzymes involved in the sphingomyelin cycle and their products in postmortem brain tissue of multiple sclerosis (MS) patients. In parallel, we investigated the effect of the sphingosine-1 receptor agonist Fingolimod (Gilenya(®)) on sphingomyelin metabolism in reactive astrocytes and determined its functional consequences for the process of neuro-inflammation. Our results demonstrate that in active MS lesions, marked by large number of infiltrated immune cells, an altered expression of enzymes involved in the sphingomyelin cycle favors enhanced ceramide production. We identified reactive astrocytes as the primary cellular source of enhanced ceramide production in MS brain samples. Astrocytes isolated from MS lesions expressed enhanced mRNA levels of the ceramide-producing enzyme acid sphingomyelinase (ASM) compared to astrocytes isolated from control white matter. In addition, TNF-α treatment induced ASM mRNA and ceramide levels in astrocytes isolated from control white matter. Incubation of astrocytes with Fingolimod prior to TNF-α treatment reduced ceramide production and mRNA expression of ASM to control levels in astrocytes. Importantly, supernatants derived from reactive astrocytes treated with Fingolimod significantly reduced transendothelial monocyte migration. Overall, the present study demonstrates that reactive astrocytes represent a possible additional cellular target for Fingolimod in MS by directly reducing the production of pro-inflammatory lipids and limiting subsequent transendothelial leukocyte migration.




The blood brain barrier keeps stuff out of the brain to maintianin its health, it consists of speciallised blood vessel cells that bind together tightly to make them inpenetrable. This is facilitated by factors produced by astrocytes that contact the blood vessel. This group finds that Gilenya may act on astrocytes to increase the production of a molecule that helps make the blood brain barrier less leaky to monocytes, which are macrophages in the blood. This suggests that Gilenya may not only stop (lymphocytes) white blood cells from entering the blood during MS but may also interfer with white blood cell (monocyte) entry into the brain also so a double whammy of benefit.

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