The possible involvement of sema3A and sema4A in the pathogenesis of multiple sclerosis.

Background: Immune semaphorins are widely accepted to have functional impact on autoimmune diseases.
Objectives: To assess the status of sema3A and sema4A in the pathogenesis of Multiple Sclerosis (MS).
Results: Sema3A expression on (T regulatory cells)Tregs was decreased in MS patients, compared to healthy controls (35.85 ± 16.7% vs 88.27 ± 3.8%; p ≤ 0.001). Serum levels of sema3A were decreased in MS patients 2.95 ± 0.43 vs 18.67 ± 5.7 ng/ml in healthy individuals; p ≤ 0.001. Sema4A serum levels were increased in MS patients compared to healthy individuals (12.99 ± 8.6 vs 5.83 ± 3.91 ng/ml; p ≤ 0.001). Sema3A and sema4A serum levels were found to be in negative/positive correlation with MS disease severity (r _s  = 0.62, r _s  = -0.49, respectively).
Conclusion: We show that sema3A is a regulatory molecule in MS, whereas sema4A is a stimulatory one. Targeting sema3A and sema4A could become a potential therapeutic approach in MS.
(Copyright © 2022. Published by Elsevier Inc.)