en Cellular and molecular Neuroscience Cellular and molecular Neuroscience Original Original <p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Introduction:</strong> Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is an inflammatory disorder caused by self-reactive Th1 lymphocytes, while Th2 cells may confer protection. The Th1 and Th2 cell differentiation are regulated by specific transcription factors, especially T-bet and GATA-3, respectively. This investigation aimed to measure the T-bet and GATA-3 expression by Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells (PBMCs) obtained from MS patients after specific and non-specific in vitro stimulation.<br> <strong>Methods: </strong>The PBMCs were separated from 22 patients with MS and 20 healthy individuals. They were cultured at 37&deg;C for 24 h in the absence of a stimulator or in the presence of Myelin oligodendrocyte Glycoprotein (MOG) or Phytohemagglutinin (PHA) at a concentration of 10 &mu;g/mL. Then the T-bet and GATA-3 expression was measured by real time-PCR.<br> <strong>Results:</strong> The T-bet expression was enhanced, while the GATA-3 expression diminished. Therefore the expression of T-bet/GATA-3 ratio diminished in not-stimulated, MOG-stimulated and PHA-stimulated PBMCs from MS patients compared with equal cultures from the healthy individuals (P<0.01, P<0.01 and P<0.01, for T-bet; P<0.03, P<0.01 and P<0.02, for GATA-3; P<0.01, P<0.001 and P<0.01 for T-bet/GATA-3 ratio, respectively). The not-stimulated, MOG-stimulated, and PHA-stimulated PBMCs from men with MS expressed higher amounts of GATA-3 than equal cells from MS women (P<0.05, P<0.05 and P<0.01, respectively).<br> <strong>Conclusion:</strong> These results probably indicate an imbalance in Th1/Th2 cells in the level of transcription factors with a tendency toward Th1 cells in MS. The clinical utilization of the transcription factors as novel biomarkers of MS should be evaluated in further studies.</p> <p></p> Multiple Sclerosis, Th1, Th2, T-bet, GATA-3 458 469 http://bcn.iums.ac.ir/browse.php?a_code=A-10-900-1&slc_lang=en&sid=1 Zahra Etesam zahraeatesam@gmail.com 13700319475328460018586 13700319475328460018586 No Neurology Research Center, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran. Maryam Nemati nemati_m22@yahoo.com 13700319475328460018587 13700319475328460018587 No Department of Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran. Mohammad-Amin Ebrahimizadeh Amin.68.2@gmail.com 13700319475328460018588 13700319475328460018588 No Department of Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran. Hossain-Ali Ebrahimi hebrahimi@kmu.ac.ir 13700319475328460018589 13700319475328460018589 No Neurology Research Center, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran. Hossain Hajghani h_hajghani@yahoo.com 13700319475328460018590 13700319475328460018590 No Department of Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran. Tahereh Khalili taherehkha2131@yahoo.com 13700319475328460018591 13700319475328460018591 No Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Medicine, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran. Abdollah Jafarzadeh Jafarzadeh14@yahool.com 13700319475328460018592 13700319475328460018592 Yes Department of Immunology, School of Medical, Rafsanjan University of Medical Sciences, Rafsanjan, Iran