Treatment of clinical experimental allergic encephalomyelitis in the rat with monoclonal antibodies.

An anti-CD4 monoclonal antibody of the IgG2a subclass, OX35, and an anti-I-A monoclonal antibody (IgG1) were used in vivo to treat experimental allergic encephalomyelitis in the Lewis rat. The anti-CD4 antibody was as effective in shortening the duration of the disease as the previously reported use of W3/25 (Brostoff and Mason, J. Neuroimmunol., 10 (1984) 331-340). It did not appear necessary for the antibody treatment to remove the CD4+ cells from the circulation in order to show an effect on the clinical course of the disease. The anti-I-A antibody did not have any noticeable effect in this disease model.