title: Ribavirin ameliorates experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis in rats and modulates cytokine production.
abstract: To determine the mechanism underlying ribavirin induced amelioration of experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE), cytokine profiles were evaluated in draining lymph node (DLN) cell culture supernatants and spinal cord obtained from EAE and/or ribavirin-treated EAE Dark Agouti rats. Administration of ribavirin to EAE rats markedly affected the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines IFN-gamma, IL-1beta and TNF-alpha in DLN and spinal cord, thus shifting the balance towards the anti-inflammatory cytokines IL-10 and TGF-beta. These findings suggest that ribavirin attenuates EAE by limiting cytokine-mediated immunoinflammatory events leading to CNS destruction. The conducted experiments provide rationale for ribavirin to be considered as a candidate drug in the development of new therapeutic strategies for the treatment of autoimmune diseases in humans, such as multiple sclerosis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurobiology, Institute for Biological Research Sinisa Stankovic, University of Belgrade, Serbia. irenam@ibiss.bg.ac.yu
authors.forename: Irena
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Lavrnja
authors.forename: Danijela
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Stojkov
authors.forename: Ivana
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Bjelobaba
authors.forename: Sanja
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Pekovic
authors.forename: Sanja
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Dacic
authors.forename: Nadezda
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Nedeljkovic
authors.forename: Marija
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mostarica-Stojkovic
authors.forename: Stanislava
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Stosic-Grujicic
authors.forename: Ljubisav
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Rakic
authors.forename: Mirjana
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Stojiljkovic
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000998:Antiviral Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001921:Brain / Q000473:pathology; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D002490:Central Nervous System / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D016207:Cytokines / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D004681:Encephalomyelitis, Autoimmune, Experimental / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008198:Lymph Nodes / Q000473:pathology; D051381:Rats; D012254:Ribavirin / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D013116:Spinal Cord / Q000473:pathology
chemical_list: D000998:Antiviral Agents; D016207:Cytokines; D012254:Ribavirin