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Decreased CNS inflammation and absence of clinical exacerbation of disease after six months oral administration of bovine myelin in diseased SJL/J mice with chronic relapsing experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis
Author(s) -
AlSabbagh A.M.,
Goad E.P.,
Weiner H.L.,
Nelson P.A.
Publication year - 1996
Publication title -
journal of neuroscience research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.72
H-Index - 160
eISSN - 1097-4547
pISSN - 0360-4012
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1097-4547(19960815)45:4<424::aid-jnr11>3.0.co;2-0
Subject(s) - experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis , luxol fast blue stain , myelin , multiple sclerosis , medicine , myelin basic protein , encephalomyelitis , immunology , myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein , antigen , central nervous system , proteolipid protein 1 , exacerbation , oral administration , pathology
Murine chronic relapsing experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (CR‐EAE) is a model of inflammatory demyelinating disease of the central nervous system (CNS) with similarity to multiple sclerosis (MS) in humans. Mice with confirmed neurologic deficits from CR‐EAE were treated by oral administration of whole bovine myelin to investigate the effect of long‐term oral delivery of myelin antigens on clinical disease and on the inflammatory response in the CNS. EAE‐positive mice were fed doses of 1 mg, 10 mg, or 20 mg of bovine myelin every other day for 6 months. We found that prolonged oral delivery of neuroantigen suppressed inflammatory and demyelination foci in the CNS of myelin‐treated mice with no exacerbation of clinical disease status compared with the 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 centers of demyelination, respectively. Furthermore, after 6 months of treatment, there was no increased sensitization to myelin antigens seen, as measured by antimyelin basic protein (MBP) or anti‐proteolipid apoprotein (PLP) antibodies. These results demonstrate that prolonged oral administration of myelin antigens in diseased animals has an ameliorating effect on the pathologic process and supports its potential long‐term use in humans with MS. © 1996 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.