Pathology-related differential expression regulation of NGF, GDNF, CNTF, and IL-6 mRNAs in human vasculitic neuropathy

The mRNA levels of nerve growth factor (NGF), glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF), ciliary neurotrophic factor (CNTF), and interleukin-6 (IL-6) were examined in sural nerves of 22 patients with acute necrotizing vasculitic neuropathies. NGF, GDNF, and IL-6 mRNAs were upregulated and CNTF mRNA was downregulated in the lesioned nerves, but their up- and down-regulation levels were not correlated with each other, showing that these mRNAs were independently expressed. The expression of NGF and CNTF mRNAs was clearly correlated with the degree of infiltrated macrophages and T cells, and myelinated fiber density, respectively. These findings indicate that these neurotrophic factors are differentially expressed temporally and spatially in the vasculitic nerve lesion by an underlying pathology-related process. (C) 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.