scholarly journals Fatal Neurological Disease in Scrapie-Infected Mice Induced for Experimental Autoimmune Encephalomyelitis

2007 ◽  
Vol 81 (18) ◽  
pp. 9942-9949 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yael Friedman-Levi ◽  
Haim Ovadia ◽  
Romana Hoftberger ◽  
Ofira Einstein ◽  
Oded Abramsky ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT During the years or decades of prion disease incubation, at-risk individuals are certain to encounter diverse pathological insults, such as viral and bacterial infections, autoimmune diseases, or inflammatory processes. Whether prion disease incubation time and clinical signs or otherwise the pathology of intercurrent diseases can be affected by the coinfection process is unknown. To investigate this possibility, mice infected with the scrapie agent at both high and low titers were subsequently induced for experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis, an immune system-mediated model of central nervous system (CNS) inflammation. We show here that coinduced mice died from a progressive neurological disease long before control mice succumbed to classical scrapie. To investigate the mechanism of the coinduced syndrome, we evaluated biochemical and pathological markers of both diseases. Brain and spleen PrPSc levels in the dying coinduced mice were comparable to those observed in asymptomatic scrapie-infected animals, suggesting that coinduced disease is not an accelerated form of scrapie. In contrast, inflammatory markers, such as demyelination, immune cell infiltrates, and gliosis, were markedly increased in coinduced mouse spinal cords. Activated astrocytes were especially elevated in the medulla oblongata. Furthermore, PrPsc depositions were found in demyelinated white matter areas in coinduced mouse spinal cords, suggesting the presence of activated infected immune cells that infiltrate into the CNS to facilitate the process of prion neuroinvasion. We hypothesize that inflammatory processes affecting the CNS may have severe clinical implications in subjects incubating prion diseases.

2013 ◽  
Vol 2013 ◽  
pp. 1-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Su Zhang ◽  
Quan-Cheng Kan ◽  
Yuming Xu ◽  
Guang-Xian Zhang ◽  
Lin Zhu

Dysfunction of the blood-brain barrier (BBB) is a primary characteristic of experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE), an experimental model of multiple sclerosis (MS). Matrine (MAT), a quinolizidine alkaloid derived from the herb Radix Sophorae Flave, has been recently found to suppress clinical EAE and CNS inflammation. However, whether this effect of MAT is through protecting the integrity and function of the BBB is not known. In the present study, we show that MAT treatment had a therapeutic effect comparable to dexamethasone (DEX) in EAE rats, with reduced Evans Blue extravasation, increased expression of collagen IV, the major component of the basement membrane, and the structure of tight junction (TJ) adaptor protein Zonula occludens-1 (ZO-1). Furthermore, MAT treatment attenuated expression of matrix metalloproteinase-9 and -2 (MMP-9/-2), while it increased the expression of tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinase-1 and -2 (TIMP-1/-2). Our findings demonstrate that MAT reduces BBB leakage by strengthening basement membrane, inhibiting activities of MMP-2 and -9, and upregulating their inhibitors. Taken together, our results identify a novel mechanism underlying the effect of MAT, a natural compound that could be a novel therapy for MS.


2020 ◽  
pp. 1-16 ◽  
Author(s):  
J.E. Libbey ◽  
J.M.S. Sanchez ◽  
B.A. Fleming ◽  
D.J. Doty ◽  
A.B. DePaula-Silva ◽  
...  

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a neuro-inflammatory autoimmune disease of the central nervous system (CNS) that affects young adults. It is characterised by the development of demyelinating lesions and inflammation within the CNS. Although the causes of MS are still elusive, recent work using patient samples and experimental animal models has demonstrated a strong relationship between the gut microbiota and its contribution to CNS inflammation and MS. While there is no cure for MS, alteration of the gut microbiota composition through the use of probiotics is a very promising treatment. However, while most recent works have focused on the use of probiotics to modify pre-existing disease, little is known about its role in protecting from the establishment of MS. In this study, we determined whether colonisation with the probiotic bacterium Escherichia coli strain Nissle 1917 (EcN) could be used as a prophylactic strategy to prevent or alter the development of experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE), a preclinical model of MS. We found that double gavage (two doses) of EcN before induction of EAE delayed disease onset and decreased disease severity. We also found that EcN-treated mice had decreased amounts of perivascular cuffing, CD4+ T cell infiltration into the CNS, together with significantly decreased absolute numbers of Th1 cells, and reduced activation of microglia. Although further studies are necessary to comprehend the exact protective mechanisms induced, our study supports a promising use of EcN as a probiotic for the prevention of MS.


2021 ◽  
Vol 31 (Supplement_2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Maiara Carolina Perussolo ◽  
Bassam Felipe Mogharbel ◽  
Lucia de Noronha ◽  
Katherine Athayde Teixeira de Carvalho

Abstract Background Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune disease of the central nervous system, characterized as an inflammatory demyelinating disease. It presents a diversity of neurologic signs and symptoms as well the incapacities. Since the need for advances in MS treatment, many studies are for new therapeutic technologies, mainly through using preclinical models as experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE). This study aimed to observe and analyze the development in Lewis rats-induced model of EAE. Methods It was used 23 females of Rattus norvegicus, from 6 to 8 weeks, weighing around 170 g. Of 23 rats, 19 underwent EAE induction distributed in six groups to establish the evolution of clinical signs. B. pertussis toxin (PTX) doses were 200, 250, 300, 350–400 ng, and four animals as the control group. The animals had weight and scores analyzed daily, starting seven and ending 24 days after induction. Then, all animals were euthanized, and the brain and spinal cord were collected for histopathological analyses. Results The results showed that the dose of 250 ng of PTX induced de higher score and weight reduction. All groups who received the PTX demonstrated histopathological findings. Those characterized as leukocyte infiltration, activation of microglia and astrocytes, and demyelinated plaques in the brain. In the spinal cord, the loosening of the myelinated fibers was observed by increasing the axonal space in all tested doses of PTX. Conclusions EAE was not dose-dependent. Histopathological findings do not proportionally related to clinical signs, as in human patients with MS.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bárbara Fernandes Pinto ◽  
Lorena Natasha Brito Ribeiro ◽  
Gisela Bevilacqua Rolfsen Ferreira da Silva ◽  
Camila Simões Freitas ◽  
Lucas Kraemer ◽  
...  

Rationale: The FDA approved Dimethyl Fumarate (DMF) as an oral drug for Multiple Sclerosis treatment based on its immunomodulatory activities. However, it also caused severe adverse effects mainly related to the gastrointestinal system. Objective: Investigated the potential effects of solid lipid nanoparticles (SLN) containing DMF, administered by inhalation on the clinical signs, central nervous system (CNS) inflammatory response, and lung function changes in mice with experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE). Materials and Methods: EAE was induced using MOG35-55 peptide in female C57BL/6J mice and were treated via inhalation with DMF-encapsulated SLN (CTRL/SLN/DMF and EAE/SLN/DMF), empty SLN (CTRL/SLN and EAE/SLN), or saline solution (CTRL/saline and EAE/saline), every 72 hours during 21 days. Results: After 21 days post-induction, EAE mice treated with DMF-loaded SLN, when compared to EAE/saline and EAE/SLN, showed decreased clinical score and weight loss, reduction in brain and spinal cord injury and inflammation, also related to the increased influx of Foxp3+ cells into the spinal cord and lung tissues. Moreover, our data revealed that EAE mice showed signs of respiratory disease, marked by increased vascular permeability, leukocyte influx, production of TNF-α and IL-17, perivascular and peribronchial inflammation, with pulmonary mechanical dysfunction associated with loss of respiratory volumes and elasticity, which DMF-encapsulated reverted in SLN nebulization. Conclusion: Our study suggests that inhalation of DMF-encapsulated SLN is an effective therapeutic protocol that reduces not only the CNS inflammatory process and disability progression, characteristic of EAE disease, but also protects mice from lung inflammation and pulmonary dysfunction.


Cells ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 748 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gabriele Di Sante ◽  
Susanna Amadio ◽  
Beatrice Sampaolese ◽  
Maria Elisabetta Clementi ◽  
Mariagrazia Valentini ◽  
...  

S100B is an astrocytic protein acting either as an intracellular regulator or an extracellular signaling molecule. A direct correlation between increased amount of S100B and demyelination and inflammatory processes has been demonstrated. The aim of this study is to investigate the possible role of a small molecule able to bind and inhibit S100B, pentamidine, in the modulation of disease progression in the relapsing–remitting experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis mouse model of multiple sclerosis. By the daily evaluation of clinical scores and neuropathologic-molecular analysis performed in the central nervous system, we observed that pentamidine is able to delay the acute phase of the disease and to inhibit remission, resulting in an amelioration of clinical score when compared with untreated relapsing–remitting experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis mice. Moreover, we observed a significant reduction of proinflammatory cytokines expression levels in the brains of treated versus untreated mice, in addition to a reduction of nitric oxide synthase activity. Immunohistochemistry confirmed that the inhibition of S100B was able to modify the neuropathology of the disease, reducing immune infiltrates and partially protecting the brain from the damage. Overall, our results indicate that pentamidine targeting the S100B protein is a novel potential drug to be considered for multiple sclerosis treatment.


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