Suppression of EAE and prevention of blood-brain barrier breakdown after vaccination with novel bifunctional peptide inhibitor.

The efficacy of bifunctional peptide inhibitor (BPI) in preventing blood-brain barrier (BBB) breakdown during onset of experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) and suppression of the disease was evaluated in mice. The mechanism that defines how BPI prevents the disease was investigated by measuring the in vitro cytokine production of splenocytes. Peptides were injected 5-11 days prior to induction of EAE, and the severity of the disease was monitored by a standard clinical scoring protocol and change in body weight. The BBB breakdown in diseased and treated mice was compared to that in normal control mice by determining deposition of gadolinium diethylenetriaminepentaacetate (Gd-DTPA) in the brain using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Mice treated with PLP-BPI showed no or low indication of EAE as well as normal increase in body weight. In contrast, mice treated with the control peptide or PBS showed a decrease in body weight and a high disease score. The diseased mice had high deposition of Gd-DTPA in the brain, indicating breakdown in the BBB. However, the deposition of Gd-DTPA in PLP-BPI-treated mice was similar to that in normal control mice. Thus, PLP-BPI can suppress EAE when administered as a peptide vaccine and maintain the integrity of the BBB.