Functional desensitization of monocytes from patients with multiple sclerosis due to prostaglandin E.

We previously showed that monocytes from patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) produce increased prostaglandin E (PGE) in tissue culture. In this paper we show that monocytes from patients with chronic progressive MS are less sensitive to agents which stimulate PGE synthesis than healthy controls. MS cells are equally sensitive to PG inhibitors. MS monocytes have increased levels of cellular cyclic AMP and are less sensitive to PGE-mediated increases in cAMP. Depressed monocyte natural cytotoxicity was found to be correlated with cellular cAMP. Functional desensitization of monocytes and decreased sensitivity to PGE signals may be related to chronic exposure to prostaglandin E.