Journal
GLIA
Volume 65, Issue 10, Pages 1590-1606Publisher
WILEY
DOI: 10.1002/glia.23179
Keywords
CYP17A1; DHEA; EAE; multiple sclerosis; neuroinflammation; neurosteroid
Categories
Funding
- Alberta Innovates - Health Solutions (AI-HS) CRIO Project
- Canada Foundation for Innovation
- University Hospital Foundation
- Department of Immunology at Tehran University of Medical Sciences
- Canadian Institutes of Health Research
- AIHS
- Canada Research Chair in Neurologic Infection and Immunity
- Alberta Innovates [201300669] Funding Source: researchfish
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Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an inflammatory demyelinating disease of the central nervous system (CNS). Neurosteroids are reported to exert anti-inflammatory effects in several neurological disorders. We investigated the expression and actions of the neurosteroid, dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA), and its more stable 3b-sulphated ester, DHEA-S, in MS and associated experimental models. CNS tissues from patients with MS and animals with experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) displayed reduced DHEA concentrations, accompanied by diminished expression of the DHEA-synthesizing enzyme CYP17A1 in oligodendrocytes (ODCs), in association with increased expression of inflammatory genes including interferon (IFN)-gamma and interleukin (IL)-1 beta. CYP17A1 was expressed variably in different human neural cell types but IFN-gamma exposure selectively reduced CYP17A1 detection in ODCs. DHEA-S treatment reduced IL-1 beta and 26 release from activated human myeloid cells with minimal effect on lymphocyte viability. Animals with EAE receiving DHEA-S treatment showed reduced Il1b and Ifng transcript levels in spinal cord compared to vehicle-treated animals with EAE. DHEA-S treatment also preserved myelin basic protein immunoreactivity and reduced axonal loss in animals with EAE, relative to vehicle-treated EAE animals. Neurobehavioral deficits were reduced in DHEA-S-treated EAE animals compared with vehicle-treated animals with EAE. Thus, CYP17A1 expression in ODCs and its product DHEA were downregulated in the CNS during inflammatory demyelination while DHEA-S provision suppressed neuroinflammation, demyelination, and axonal injury that was evident as improved neurobehavioral performance. These findings indicate that DHEA production is an immunoregulatory pathway within the CNS and its restoration represents a novel treatment approach for neuroinflammatory diseases.
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