Myelin Basic Protein Administration in Multiple Sclerosis

Blood-borne soluble protein antigen intensifies T cell activation in autoimmune CNS lesions and exacerbates clinical disease

“…The rationale behind this treatment is the observation that soluble autoantigen, when given parenterally at a high dose, inactivates specifically autoimmune effector lymphocytes. Initial trials using candidate autoantigenic proteins in human disease have been disappointing, supposedly because of the unknown nature of the target autoantigen causing the disease (1)(2)(3). In contrast, application of altered peptide ligands, analogs to autoimmune epitopes, seemed more promising.…”

Instant effect of soluble antigen on effector T cells in peripheral immune organs during immunotherapy of autoimmune encephalomyelitis

“…Furthermore, in the presence of autoantibodies, the infusion of autoantigen could cause immune complex disease. We should also recall that early attempts to infuse MBP into multiple sclerosis (MS) patients yielded disappointing results (33)(34)(35), and similar outcomes were noted in trials of other human autoimmune disease (36). In retrospect, this finding is not too surprising, considering that an infused autoantigen acts exclusively on specific T cells.…”

Antigen-Specific Therapy of Multiple Sclerosis: The Long-Sought Magic Bullet

“…7 In this article I shall explore four ongoing examples where investigators are attempting antigen specific approaches for the treatment of MS: two trials with the same altered peptide ligand directed to the 83-99 peptide of myelin basic protein 8,9 ; a trial of therapy with a peptide to myelin basic protein 82-98 10 ; and a trial of a DNA vaccine directed to the entire myelin basic protein molecule. 11 Earlier attempts by Jonas Salk and colleagues to tolerize the immune system with porcine myelin basic protein, 12,13 and by Weiner and colleagues 14 to tolerize via orally delivering myelin antigens will be discussed in context.…”