Revelation of the IFNα, IL-10, IL-8 and IL-1β as promising biomarkers reflecting immuno-pathological mechanisms in porcine Huntington's disease model

•Exclusive transgenic porcine Huntington's disease model•Cerebellar microglia, cerebrospinal fluid, CD14 + blood monocytes and serum cytokine levels using multiplex immunoassay•Central nervous and peripheral immune responses are not concurrent.•Perceived role of IFNα in Huntington's disease•IFNα, IL-10, IL-8 and IL-1β as promising HD biomarkers reflecting immuno-pathological mechanisms

Studies on Huntington's disease (HD) demonstrated altered immune response in HD gene carriers. Using multiplexing immunoassay, we simultaneously investigated seven cytokines in secretomes of microglia and blood monocytes, cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and serum collected from transgenic HD minipigs at pre-symptomatic disease stage. Decline in IFNα and IL-10 was observed in CSF and secretome of microglia whilst elevated IL-8 and IL-1β levels were secreted by microglia. Additionally, IL-8 was increased in serum. The proportion of mutant huntingtin in microglia may have causative impact on cytokine production. IFNα, IL-10, IL-8 and IL-1β represent promising biomarkers reflecting immuno-pathological mechanisms in porcine HD model.

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