ESTRIOL
Neurology
1999 Apr 12;52(6):1230-8
Estriol ameliorates autoimmune demyelinating disease: implications
for multiple sclerosis.
Kim S, Liva SM, Dalal MA, Verity MA, Voskuhl RR
Department of Neurology, University of California Los Angeles School
of Medicine, USA.
OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the use of estriol in the treatment of experimental
autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) and other cell mediated autoimmune
diseases. BACKGROUND: Experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis is a T
helper 1 (Th1)-mediated autoimmune demyelinating disease that is a useful
model for the study of immune responses in MS. Interestingly, both EAE
and MS have been shown to be
ameliorated during late pregnancy. METHODS: Estriol, progesterone, and
placebo pellets were implanted in mice during the effector phase of
adoptive EAE. Disease scores were compared between treatment groups, and
autoantigen-specific humoral and cellular responses were examined.
RESULTS:
Estriol treatment reduced the severity of EAE significantly compared with
placebo treatment whereas progesterone treatment had no effect. Estriol
doses that induced serum estriol levels that approximated estriol levels during
late pregnancy were capable of ameliorating disease. Estriol-treated EAE mice
had significantly higher levels of serum antibodies of the immunoglobulin (Ig)
G1 isotype specific for the autoantigen myelin basic protein (MBP). Further, MBP-specific
T-lymphocyte responses from estriol-treated EAE mice were characterized by
significantly increased production of the Th2 cytokine interleukin 10 (IL-10). T
lymphocytes were shown to be the primary source of IL-10 within
antigen-stimulated splenocyte populations. CONCLUSIONS: Estriol as a hormone
involved in immune changes during pregnancy may provide a basis for the novel
therapeutic use of estriol for MS and other
putative Th1-mediated autoimmune diseases that improve during late
pregnancy.
PMID: 10214749, UI: 99229562
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