Expression of the interleukin 17 in cortical tubers of the tuberous sclerosis complex

•IL-17 and IL-17R were clearly upregulated in cortical tubers at the protein levels.•IL-17 was specifically distributed in the innate and adaptive immunity cells.•IL-17 may be involved in the epileptogenicity of cortical tubers in TSC.

The role of interleukin 17 (IL-17) to epilepsy-associated cortical tubers of tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC) is unknown. We investigated the expression patterns of the IL-17 and IL-17 receptor (IL-17R) in cortical tubers of TSC compared with normal control cortex (CTX). We found that IL-17 and IL-17R were clearly upregulated in cortical tubers at the protein levels. Immunostaining indicated that IL-17 was specifically distributed in the innate immunity cells (DNs, GCs, astrocytes, and microglia) and adaptive immunity cells (T-lymphocytes) as well as the endothelial cells of blood vessels. The overexpression and distribution patterns of IL-17 may be involved in the epileptogenicity of cortical tubers in TSC.