Fumaric Acid Esters Do Not Reduce Inflammatory NF-κB/p65 Nuclear Translocation, ICAM-1 Expression and T-Cell Adhesiveness of Human Brain Microvascular Endothelial Cells.

Dimethyl fumarate (DMF) is approved for disease-modifying treatment of patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis. Animal experiments suggested that part of its therapeutic effect is due to a reduction of T-cell infiltration of the central nervous system (CNS) by uncertain mechanisms. Here we evaluated whether DMF and its primary metabolite monomethyl fumarate (MMF) modulate pro-inflammatory intracellular signaling and T-cell adhesiveness of nonimmortalized single donor human brain microvascular endothelial cells at low passages.