Abstract

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a demyelinating disease of the CNS. Early inflammation leads to later destruction of myelin in MS. Dietary restriction (DR) produces anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory effects in many species. Based on the reported anti-inflammatory effects of DR, we investigated whether sera collected from rats fed on intermittent feeding (IF, a type of DR) diet could modulate cytokine secretion and matrix metalloproteinase (MMP-2) activity that are involved in MS pathogenesis. Cytokine levels (IL-6 and TGF-beta 1) were measured in supernatant from C6 glioma cell line cultures treated with IF and AL fed animals' sera by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and MMP-2 activity was detected by gelatin zymography. Our results indicated that sera of animals on IF diet significantly reduced IL-6 (p <0.05) and increased TGF-beta 1 (p <0.05) production by C6 glioma cells. A significant decrease (p <0.05) in MMP-2 activity was also found. These results indicate anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory activity in the sera of animals on IF regimen on cells involved in multiple sclerosis pathogenesis. Further studies on the detection of factors responsible for such activities and their mechanism of action in MS pathogenesis are recommended. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.