Homotaurine, a safe blood-brain barrier permeable GABA_A-R-specific agonist, ameliorates disease in mouse models of multiple sclerosis.

ABSTRACT: There is a need for treatments that can safely promote regulatory lymphocyte responses. T cells express GABA receptors (GABA_A-Rs) and GABA administration can inhibit Th1-mediated processes such as type 1 diabetes and rheumatoid arthritis in mouse models. Whether GABA_A-R agonists can also inhibit Th17-driven processes such as experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE), a model of multiple sclerosis (MS), is an open question. GABA does not pass through the blood-brain barrier (BBB) making it ill-suited to inhibit the spreading of autoreactivity within the CNS. Homotaurine is a BBB-permeable amino acid that antagonizes amyloid fibril formation and was found to be safe but ineffective in long-term Alzheimer's disease clinical trials. Homotaurine also acts as GABA

SUBMITTER: Tian J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6224391 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature