Mitigation of experimental allergic encephalomyelitis by cathepsin D inhibition.

Intraperitoneal treatment with the enzyme inhibitor, pepstatin, of BSVS mice, guinea pigs and Lewis rats which were sensitized with guinea pig spinal cord and pertussis vaccine resulted in complete or partial suppression of paralysis dependent on the species studied and alterations of histological signs of experimental allergic encephalomyelitis (EAE). The effect was dose-dependent but had no relationship to the age of the experimental animal at the time of the experiment.