Novel disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drug iguratimod suppresses chronic experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis by down-regulating activation of macrophages/microglia through an NF-κB pathway.

ABSTRACT: We aimed to elucidate the effects of iguratimod, a widely used anti-rheumatic drug with no severe side effects, on chronic experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE), an animal model of multiple sclerosis (MS). Iguratimod was orally administered to mice immunised with myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein peptide 35-55. Preventive administration of iguratimod from the time of immunisation was found to markedly reduce the clinical severity of acute and chronic EAE. Pathologically, iguratimod treatment significantly reduced demyelination and infiltration of CD3+ T, F4/80+, and CD169+ cells into the spinal cord, and suppressed macrophage/microglia activation in the parenchyma at the acute and chronic stages compared with vehicle treatment. Therapeutic administration of iguratimod after the

SUBMITTER: Li G 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5792543 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature