PMID: 8955226Dec 15, 1996Paper

The length of treatment determines whether IFN-beta prevents or aggravates experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis in Lewis rats

The Journal of Immunology : Official Journal of the American Association of Immunologists
S R RuulsP H van der Meide

Abstract

The mechanism of action underlying the beneficial effect of IFN-beta in multiple sclerosis (MS) is not understood. To date, little information is available on the effects of IFN-beta in experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE), the animal correlate of the human disease MS. Therefore, we investigated the effects of recombinant rat IFN-beta (rrIFN-beta) on EAE in Lewis rats with emphasis on a treatment regimen during the paralytic phase of the disease. The results indicated that rrIFN-beta dose-dependently inhibited disease activity with complete prevention at a s.c. dose of 300,000 U/day, provided that treatment was continued for 3 wk. Discontinuation of treatment on day 17 postimmunization resulted in a protracted and relapsing disease course with strongly enhanced clinical severity. Detailed immunohistology of central nervous system (CNS) tissue of protected animals revealed an almost complete absence of CNS lesions and a >90% reduction in the number of infiltrating leukocytes. Accordingly, isolation of mononuclear cells from spinal cord tissue of successfully treated EAE rats revealed a reduction of approximately 95% in the number of cells that produce IFN-gamma in response to the encephalitogenic peptide MBP63-88. Fur...Continue Reading

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