1. islamic azad university science and research branch
Abstract
Introduction
Multiple sclerosis (ms) is a chronic neuroinflammatory demyelinating disorder of the central nervous system (cns) with a strong neurodegenerative component. while the exact etiology of the disease is yet unclear, most of the therapeutic strategies to control ms are directed to immune modulation and inflammation control. the present study is undertaken to investigate the role of snake venom in suppression of immune system after induction of experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis(eae)
Methods
Eighteen c57bl/6 female mice with average weight of 18 to 20 grams were selected and divided in to 3 groups. groups 2 & 3 (6 mice each)received flank injection emulsion of myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein 35-55 (mog 35-55) plus complete freund adjuvant(cfa), followed by administration of pertussis toxin(ptx) to induce eae. group1 received normal saline and group 3 received cobra snake (naja naja oxiana) venom (cv) as immune-modulator twice a week after eae induction. mice were evaluated daily for neurological motor deficits including: clinical symptoms, weight changes for 26 days, also histopathological analysis and serum levels of il-27 were evaluated in all mice of each group
Results
Clinical sings of mog-eae in c57bl/6 mice began between day 9-14 post-immunization. histopathological results showed significant reduction in intensity of inflammatory cells in cv treated eae mice as compared to untreated eae group in parenchymal sections. serum levels of il-27 in cv treated group (124.64275.62pg/ml) were significantly (p=0.001) increase compare to eae (73±22.72pg/ml)and control groups (117.35 35.72pg/ml)
Conclusion
Our results indicate that cv is candidate of immunomodulatory and may be used as a suitable choice for ms treatment
