TY - JOUR
T1 - Inverse relationship between multiple sclerosis and allergic respiratory diseases
AU - Bergamaschi, Roberto
AU - Villani, Simona
AU - Crabbio, Massimo
AU - Ponzio, Michela
AU - Romani, Alfredo
AU - Verri, Anna
AU - Bargiggia, Valeria
AU - Cosi, Vittorio
PY - 2009
Y1 - 2009
N2 - Th1 up-regulation seems to favour autoimmunity, while Th2 up-regulation seems to favour humoral immunity. Accordingly, subjects affected by atopic diseases (such as allergic respiratory diseases, ARDs) should be less prone to autoimmune diseases (such as multiple sclerosis, MS), and vice versa. The recent identification of Th17 cells, which seem to favour the development of both autoimmunity and allergy, led to the revision of the classic Th1/Th2 paradigm. We studied 200 MS patients and 200 controls to analyze the relationships between ARDs and MS. MS patients had less probability to suffer from ARDs (OR = 0.30, p <0.001) and allergic rhinitis (OR = 0.25, p <0.001), after adjusting for environmental factors. MS tended to be less severe when associated to ARDs. Our findings add some elements for the comprehension of immune mechanisms involved in MS pathogenesis and suggest to analyze other MS cohorts, in order to evaluate if MS patients affected by allergic diseases show particular clinical findings.
AB - Th1 up-regulation seems to favour autoimmunity, while Th2 up-regulation seems to favour humoral immunity. Accordingly, subjects affected by atopic diseases (such as allergic respiratory diseases, ARDs) should be less prone to autoimmune diseases (such as multiple sclerosis, MS), and vice versa. The recent identification of Th17 cells, which seem to favour the development of both autoimmunity and allergy, led to the revision of the classic Th1/Th2 paradigm. We studied 200 MS patients and 200 controls to analyze the relationships between ARDs and MS. MS patients had less probability to suffer from ARDs (OR = 0.30, p <0.001) and allergic rhinitis (OR = 0.25, p <0.001), after adjusting for environmental factors. MS tended to be less severe when associated to ARDs. Our findings add some elements for the comprehension of immune mechanisms involved in MS pathogenesis and suggest to analyze other MS cohorts, in order to evaluate if MS patients affected by allergic diseases show particular clinical findings.
KW - Allergic diseases
KW - Asthma
KW - Epidemiology
KW - Multiple sclerosis
KW - Rhinitis
KW - Th1/Th2 balance
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=63749126118&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=63749126118&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/s10072-009-0036-8
DO - 10.1007/s10072-009-0036-8
M3 - Article
C2 - 19259620
AN - SCOPUS:63749126118
VL - 30
SP - 115
EP - 118
JO - Neurological Sciences
JF - Neurological Sciences
SN - 1590-1874
IS - 2
ER -