Dr. Feng Lin and colleagues at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, OH have discovered that the complement inhibitor FUT-175 delays EAE onset. They present these findings in the August 2009 issue of The American Journal of Pathology.
Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune disease in which the body’s immune response attacks the central nervous system (CNS), causing physical and cognitive disability. Complement, molecules involved in clearing infection, may enhance this misguided immune response.
Li et al therefore examined the effects of FUT-175, a drug with few clinical side effects that prevents the functions of complement, on the development of EAE, a mouse model of MS. They found that FUT-175 prevented production of activated complement and inhibited specific immune responses with little non-specific toxicity. FUT-175 treatment delayed EAE disease onset and decreased the severity of disease. Thus, FUT-175 may be a novel candidate to treat autoimmune diseases such as MS.
This study by Li et al “provide[s] further insight into how to most effectively apply “¦ complement inhibitors for treating T cell-mediated diseases.”
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