Effects of pharmacological treatment with modafinil on T cell response of patients with type 1 narcolepsy

• Grant number: 15/18803-8
• Support type: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Post-doctor
• Effective date (Start): February 08, 2016
• Effective date (End): February 07, 2017
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Pharmacology
• Principal researcher: João Palermo Neto
• Grantee: Adriano Zager
• Supervisor abroad: Birgitte Rahbek Kornum
• Home Institution: Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária e Zootecnia (FMVZ). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Research place: Glostrup Research Institute, Denmark
• Associated to the scholarship: 13/18921-5 - Effects of modafinil on immunity, neuroinflammation and development of experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis in mice, BP.PD

Abstract

Type 1 narcolepsy is a sleep disorder characterized by excessive daytime sleepiness, cataplexy and hypocretin deficiency. Several lines of evidence indicate that type 1 narcolepsy is an autoimmune disorder that could be triggered by multiple genetic (HLA DQB1*06:02) and environmental factors (previous infections and vaccines). Although no clear immune mechanism has been established for the specific destruction of hypocretin neurons, T cells seems to be crucial to development of autoimmunity. Modafinil is a psychostimulant drug that has been used as wake-promoter to treat narcolepsy for many years. Recent in vivo and in vitro findings suggest that modafinil has anti-inflammatory effects and decreases T helper-mediated immunity. However, to this date, no studies were performed to associate the improvement of symptoms after modafinil treatment with T cell function of patients with type 1 narcolepsy. The aim of the present study is to investigate circulating CD4+ and CD8+ subsets and their secreted cytokines in type 1 narcoleptic patients, before and after pharmacological treatment with modafinil. (AU)

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

ZAGER, ADRIANO; BRANDAO, WESLEY NOGUEIRA; MARGATHO, RAFAEL OLIVEIRA; GIMENES CRUZ, DANIEL SANZIO; PERON, JEAN PIERRE; TUFIK, SERGIO; ANDERSEN, MONICA LEVY; MORESCO, MONICA; PIZZA, FABIO; PLAZZI, GIUSEPPE; KORNUM, BIRGITTE RAHBEK; PALERMO-NETO, JOAO. Increased interferon-mediated immunity following in vitro and in vivo Modafinil treatment on peripheral immune cells. PROGRESS IN NEURO-PSYCHOPHARMACOLOGY & BIOLOGICAL PSYCHIATRY, v. 81, p. 297-305, FEB 2 2018. Web of Science Citations: 2.