Tehran University of Medical Sciences Iranian Journal of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology 1735-1502 16 4 2017 08 12 329 337 EN Ebrahim Kouchaki Department of Neurology, Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan, Iran Omid Reza Tamtaji Physiology Research Center, Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan, Iran Ehsan Dadgostar Student Research Committee, Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan, Iran Mohammad Karami Student Research Committee, Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan, Iran Hassan Nikoueinejad Nephrology and Urology Research Center, Baqiyatallah University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran Hossein Akbari Department of Biostatistics and Public Health, Faculty of Health, Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan, Iran 2016 09 05 2017 04 22 IL-33 and IL-37 (new cytokines of IL-1 family), soluble form of vascular endothelial growth factor receptor-2 (sVEGFR2) as well as membranous expression of VEGFR2 have some key roles in the pathogenesis of autoimmune and inflammatory diseases. The aim of this study was to correlate circulatory changes of these factors with the severity of multiple sclerosis (MS) as an autoimmune and inflammatory disease. Our case-control study was performed on 84 patients with MS and 75 healthy subjects. The serum levels of IL-33, IL-37 and sVEGFR2 in the peripheral blood samples of all participants were measured by enzyme-linked immune sorbent assay (ELISA). Flow cytometry was used to analyze the circulatory number of VEGFR2-expressing cells. The severity of MS was evaluated using the expanded disability status scale (EDSS). Finally, we evaluated the correlation between serum levels of those factors with disease severity. Our findings showed that the serum level of IL-33, IL-37, sVEGFR2 and the circulatory number of VEGFR2-expressing cells were increased in patients with MS compared to healthy subjects (p<0.0001). Also, there was a significant correlation between serum levels of these 3 factors with disease severity according to EDSS. Our study showed that the serum levels of IL-33, IL-37 and sVEGFR2 may be important prognostic biomarkers of MS. https://ijaai.tums.ac.ir/index.php/ijaai/article/view/1040 https://ijaai.tums.ac.ir/index.php/ijaai/article/download/1040/747