Transcription signature of Multiple Sclerosis in peripheral blood mononuclear cells.

Background: pregnancy is associated with reduced activity of multiple sclerosis (MS). However, the biological mechanisms underlying this pregnancy-related decrease in disease activity are poorly understood. This data series contains the subset of data used to generate a MS signature comparing female healthy specimens with respect to MS patients Subjects were followed in the outpatients clinic and blood was collected before pregnancy and at the following time points during pregnancy: first trimester (gestational age at sampling 12 weeks), second trimester (24 weeks), and third trimester (36 weeks). Before-pregnancy samples were obtained in a treatment-free period and after anticonceptional drug withdrawal. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) obtained from 15 women (8 MS patients and 7 healthy controls) were analyzed by oligonucleotide microarray technology.