Suppression of acute experimental allergic encephalomyelitis by neurotropin: clinical, histopathologic, immunologic and immunohistochemical studies.
The effect of neurotropin, an extract isolated from the inflamed skin of rabbits inoculated with Vaccinia virus was examined on acute experimental allergic encephalomyelitis (EAE) in Lewis rats. A dose of 40 mg per kg body weight of neurotropin was administered intraperitoneally for 7 days post-inoculation. The severity of clinical signs of acute EAE was decreased by the administration of neurotropin. Histopathologic evaluation showed that lesion severity of EAE in neurotropin-treated rats was less than that seen in untreated rats. Blood lymphocyte subset analysis revealed that in comparison to untreated EAE rats, in neurotropin-treated rats, the percentage of OX6+ (Ia antigen) cells was lower and the W3/25+ (helper T cell): OX8+ (suppressor/cytotoxic T cell) cell ratio was greater during the period of peak inflammation. Immunohistochemical examination of neurotropin-treated rats demonstrated that OX6+ and W3/25+ cells within EAE lesions were fewer and that OX8+ cells in lesions occurred in greater numbers than those in untreated rats. These findings suggest that the OX8+ cells in the inflammatory lesions may have been induced by neurotropin treatment and that the suppressive effects on the disease may have been causally related to their presence.
Kato
S
S
Department of Pathology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY 10467.
Nakamura
H
H
Naiki
M
M
Takeoka
Y
Y
Suehiro
S
S
D000208:Acute Disease; D000276:Adjuvants, Immunologic / Q000627:therapeutic use; D000818:Animals; D001773:Blood Cells / Q000473:pathology; D004681:Encephalomyelitis, Autoimmune, Experimental / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D016131:Lymphocyte Subsets / Q000473:pathology; D011134:Polysaccharides / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D051381:Rats; D011917:Rats, Inbred Lew
D000276:Adjuvants, Immunologic; D011134:Polysaccharides; C010491:neurotropin