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AM80 Blocks Early Multiple Sclerosis in Mice

ScienceDaily (May 22, 2009) — Researchers led by Drs. Takahashi Yamamura and Shinji Oki at the National Institute of Neuroscience, Tokyo, Japan have found that the synthetic retinoid AM80 is effective in treating early symptoms in a mouse model of multiple sclerosis (MS).

MS is a disease where the immune system attacks the central nervous system, preventing communication between nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord. A certain type of immune cell, Th17 T cells, plays a pathogenic role in MS and other autoimmune diseases.

Using a mouse model of MS, Klenmann et al found that AM80, a synthetic molecule related to vitamin A, inhibited Th17 T cell function without generating general immunosuppression. AM80 treatment was effective in inhibiting early symptoms in the MS mouse model, even if administered after disease initiation, but it did not prevent chronic symptoms.

Drs. Yamamura, Oki, and colleagues "conclude that treatment with the synthetic retinoid AM80 is a considerable intervention strategy for the acute phase of Th17-mediated autoimmune diseases such as MS."


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Journal reference:

Klemann C, Raveney BJE, Klemann AK, Ozawa T, von Hörsten S, Shudo K, Oki S, Yamamura T. Synthetic retinoid AM80 inhibits Th17 cells and ameliorates EAE. American Journal of Pathology, June, 2009; 174: 2234-2245
Adapted from materials provided by American Journal of Pathology, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.