DECREASED CNS INFLAMMATION AND ABSENCE OF CLINICAL EXACERBATION OF DISEASE AFTER 6 MONTHS ORAL-ADMINISTRATION OF BOVINE MYELIN IN DISEASED SJL J MICE WITH CHRONIC RELAPSING EXPERIMENTAL AUTOIMMUNE ENCEPHALOMYELITIS/
Am. Alsabbagh et al., DECREASED CNS INFLAMMATION AND ABSENCE OF CLINICAL EXACERBATION OF DISEASE AFTER 6 MONTHS ORAL-ADMINISTRATION OF BOVINE MYELIN IN DISEASED SJL J MICE WITH CHRONIC RELAPSING EXPERIMENTAL AUTOIMMUNE ENCEPHALOMYELITIS/, Journal of neuroscience research, 45(4), 1996, pp. 424-429
Murine chronic relapsing experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (CR
-EAE) is a a model of inflammatory demyelinating disease of the centra
l nervous system (CNS) with similarity to multiple sclerosis (MS) in h
umans. Mice with confirmed neurologic deficits from CR-EAE were treate
d by oral administration of whole bovine myelin to investigate the eff
ect of long-term oral delivery of myelin antigens on clinical disease
and on the inflammatory response in the CNS. EAE-positive mice were fe
d doses of 1 mg, 10 mg, or 20 ang of bovine myelin every either day fo
r 6 months. We found that prolonged oral delivery of neuroantigen supp
ressed inflammatory and demyelination foci in the CNS of myelin-treate
d mice with no exacerbation of clinical disease status compared with t
he control group. Analysis of histologic sections of brain and spinal
cords with hematoxylin-eosin (H&E) and Luxol fast blue (LFB) staining
showed a decrease in the inflammatory cell infiltration and active cen
ters of demyelination, respectively, Furthermore, after 6 months of tr
eatment, these was no increased sensitization to myelin antigens seen,
as measured by anti-myelin basic protein (MBP) or anti-proteolipid ap
o-protein (PLP) antibodies. These results demonstrate that prolonged o
ral administration of myelin antigens inn diseased animals has an amel
iorating effect on the pathologic process and supports its potential l
ongterm use in humans with MS. (C) 1996 Wiley-Liss, Inc.