The Expression Of ULBP2 In The Cerebrospinal Fluid And Serum Of Patients With Epilepsy

Objective:ULBP2 is a new immunomodulatory protein, Human cytomegalovirus infection up-regulate the expression of ULBP2.Previous studies have showed that ULBP2 was increased in the brain tissue of patients with epilepsy. ULBP2 activate the immune cells through the activating receptor NKG2D.This study is to compare the expression of ULBP2 in the cerebrospinal fluid and in the peripheral blood serum between the epileptic patients and control, and to explore its relationship with the pathogenesis of epilepsy.Methods:Fifty epileptic patients’ cerebrospinal fluid specimens (eighteen cases were intractable epilepsy patients; fourteen cases were effective for the treatment of antiepileptic drugs; eighteen cases had not treated with antiepileptic drugs) and eleven patients’ cerebrospinal fluid specimens without epilepsy were enrolled in this study. Meanwhile thirty-three epileptic patients’ serum specimens and eleven patients’ serum specimens without epilepsy were detected by ELISA.Results:After detected by ELISA, we found out that the mean expression of CSF and serum ULBP2 in the epileptic group was higher than the non-epileptic patients (P=0.000, P=0.034, respectively); The mean expression of CSF and serum ULBP2 in the intractable epilepsy group was higher than the group without treatment of antiepileptic drugs (P=0.046, P=0.000, respectively); The mean expression of CSF and serum ULBP2 in the group of taking AEDs was higher than the group without taking AEDs (P=0.007, P=0.000, respectively).Conclusions:The study found that the expression of ULBP2 was different between the CSF and serum specimens of the patients with epilepsy and non-epileptic patients. The expression of ULBP2 was different between the CSF and serum specimens of the group of refractory epilepsy and the group of taking antiepileptic drugs. The expression of ULBP2 was different between the CSF and serum specimens of patients with taking antiepileptic drugs and patients without taking antiepileptic drugs. The expression of ULBP2 in the CSF was the same trend with the expression of ULBP2 in the serum. The expression of ULBP2 in the CSF and serum of patients with epilepsy was higher than the control group. The high expression of ULBP2 through binding the activative receptor NKG2D to active NK cells, cause cell toxicity, produce and secrete large amounts of cytokines/chemokines, resulting in many autoimmune antibodies produced. This may provide a immune therapy target for epilepsy.