Prophylactic Glatiramer Acetate Treatment Positively Attenuates Spontaneous Opticospinal Encephalomyelitis.

Glatiramer acetate (GA) is a well-established treatment option for patients with clinically isolated syndrome and relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (MS) with few side effects. The double transgenic mouse model spontaneous opticospinal encephalomyelitis (OSE), based on recombinant myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein reactive T and B cells, mimicks features of chronic inflammation and degeneration in MS and related disorders. Here, we investigated the effects of prophylactic GA treatment on the clinical course, histological alterations and peripheral immune cells in OSE.

Propionate exerts neuroprotective and neuroregenerative effects in the peripheral nervous system.

In inflammatory neuropathies, oxidative stress results in neuronal and Schwann cell (SC) death promoting early neurodegeneration and clinical disability. Treatment with the short-chain fatty acid propionate showed a significant immunoregulatory and neuroprotective effect in multiple sclerosis patients. Similar effects have been described for patients with chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIDP).

Functional relevance of the multi-drug transporter abcg2 on teriflunomide therapy in an animal model of multiple sclerosis.

Background: The multi-drug resistance transporter ABCG2, a member of the ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporter family, mediates the efflux of different immunotherapeutics used in multiple sclerosis (MS), e.g., teriflunomide (teri), cladribine, and mitoxantrone, across cell membranes and organelles.

Immune cell derived BDNF does not mediate neuroprotection of the murine anti-CD52 antibody in a chronic autoimmune mouse model.

The murine anti-CD52 antibody, an equivalent of the humanized antibody alemtuzumab, which is successfully used in the treatment of multiple sclerosis, was used to explore a potential neuroprotective effect driven by immune cell derived brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). Therefore, lineage specific constitutive knock-out mice with a BDNF deficiency in T cells and macrophages were used and compared to treated wildtype mice. Neither therapeutic nor preventive application of the murine anti-CD52 antibody in an animal model of multiple sclerosis, the MOG EAE, revealed a beneficial contribution of immune cell derived BDNF to the disease outcome.

Flow cytometric characterization of microglia in the offspring of PolyI:C treated mice.

The neuropathology of schizophrenia has been reported to be closely associated with microglial activation. In a previous study, using the prenatal PolyI:C schizophrenia animal model, we showed an increase in cell numbers and a reduction in microglial branching in 30-day-old PolyI:C descendants, which suggests that there is microglial activation during adolescence. To provide more information about the activation state, we aimed to examine the expression levels of Iba1, which was reported to be up-regulated in activated microglia.

Dietary Fatty Acids Directly Impact Central Nervous System Autoimmunity via the Small Intestine.

Growing empirical evidence suggests that nutrition and bacterial metabolites might impact the systemic immune response in the context of disease and autoimmunity. We report that long-chain fatty acids (LCFAs) enhanced differentiation and proliferation of T helper 1 (Th1) and/or Th17 cells and impaired their intestinal sequestration via p38-MAPK pathway. Alternatively, dietary short-chain FAs (SCFAs) expanded gut T regulatory (Treg) cells by suppression of the JNK1 and p38 pathway.

Low dose fumaric acid esters are effective in a mouse model of spontaneous chronic encephalomyelitis.

In this study we examined the role of fumaric acid esters (FAE) in a spontaneous and chronic animal model, the opticospinal EAE (OSE). Preventive treatment of dimethylfumarate (DMF) promotes onset of disease in animals treated with high dose DMF. This group also exhibited a significantly exacerbated disease course in a therapeutic treatment as compared to the low dose DMF approach, where less demyelination, macrophage infiltration, and increased Nrf2 expression in the spinal cord were observed.

Functional role of brain-derived neurotrophic factor in neuroprotective autoimmunity: therapeutic implications in a model of multiple sclerosis.

Brain-derived neurotrophic factor plays a key role in neuronal and axonal survival. Brain-derived neurotrophic factor is expressed in the immune cells in lesions of experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis and multiple sclerosis, thus potentially mediating neuroprotective effects. We investigated the functional role of brain-derived neurotrophic factor in myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein-induced experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis, an animal model of multiple sclerosis.