Methylthioadenosine reverses brain autoimmune disease

Objective: To assess the immunomodulatory activity of methylthioadenosine (MTA) in rodent experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) and in patients with multiple sclerosis. Methods: We studied the effect of intraperitoneal MTA in the acute and chronic EAE model by quantifying clinical and histological scores and by performing immunnhistochemistry stains of the brain. We studied the immunomodulatory effect of MTA in lymphocytes from EAE animals and in peripheral blood mononuclear cells from healthy control subjects and multiple sclerosis patients by assessing cell proliferation and cytokine gene expression, by real-time polymerase chain reaction, and by nuclear factor-kappa B modulation by Western blot. Results: We found that MTA prevents acute EAE and, more importantly, reverses chronic-relapsing EAE. MTA treatment markedly inhibited brain inflammation and reduced brain damage. Administration of MTA suppressed T-cell activation in vivo and in vitro, likely through a blockade in T-cell signaling resulting in the prevention of inhibitor of kappa B (IKB-alpha) degradation and in the impaired activation transcription factor nuclear factor-kappa B. Indeed, MTA suppressed the production of proinflammatory genes and cytokines (interferon-gamma, tumor necrosis factor-alpha, and inducible nitric oxide synthase) and increased the production of antiinflammatory cytokines (interleukin-10). Interpretation: MTA has a remarkable immunomodulatory activity and may be beneficial for multiple sclerosis and other autoimmune diseases.