title: Dehydroepiandrosterone therapy ameliorates experimental autoimmune myasthenia gravis in Lewis rats.
abstract: To detect a possible effect of dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) in the pathogenesis of experimental autoimmune myasthenia gravis (EAMG), DHEA (0.5 mg/rat) was administrated intraperitoneally to Lewis rats every other day from day 4 postimmunization (p.i.) to day 35 p.i. with Torpedo acetylcholine receptor (AChR) and Freund's complete adjuvant. Rats treated with DHEA had a lower clinical score (mean clinic score, 2 versus 0.5 on day 37 p.i.) and a lower body weight loss (mean body weight, 169 versus 142 g on day 37 p.i.) compared with control EAMG rats. DHEA treatment decreased serum anti-AChR IgG and IgG2b antibody titers on days 7, 14, and 21 p.i. and inhibited the levels of anti-AChR IgG antibody secreting cells (60%), accompanied by decreased IL-4 (33%) and augmented TGF-beta1-positive cells (41%) among lymph node mononuclear cells. These results obtained from EAMG in Lewis rats further encourage us to study DHEA treatment in human MG.
authors.affiliation: Division of Neurology, Unit of Experimental Neurology R54, Karolinska Institute, Huddinge University Hospital, SE 141 86 Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: Rui-Sheng
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Duan
authors.forename: Hans
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Link
authors.forename: Bao-Guo
authors.initials: BG
authors.lastname: Xiao
mesh_terms: D000110:Acetylcholinesterase / Q000276:immunology; D000818:Animals; D001323:Autoantibodies / Q000097:blood / Q000187:drug effects; D003687:Dehydroepiandrosterone / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D007074:Immunoglobulin G / Q000097:blood; D015847:Interleukin-4 / Q000032:analysis; D007963:Leukocytes, Mononuclear / Q000737:chemistry; D008198:Lymph Nodes / Q000166:cytology; D020720:Myasthenia Gravis, Autoimmune, Experimental / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000276:immunology; D051381:Rats; D011917:Rats, Inbred Lew; D016212:Transforming Growth Factor beta / Q000032:analysis
chemical_list: D001323:Autoantibodies; D007074:Immunoglobulin G; D016212:Transforming Growth Factor beta; D015847:Interleukin-4; D003687:Dehydroepiandrosterone; D000110:Acetylcholinesterase