Effect of recombinant Lactococcus lactis producing myelin peptides on neuroimmunological changes in rats with experimental allergic encephalomyelitis

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a human autoimmune neurodegenerative disease with an unknown etiology. Despite various therapies, there is no effective cure for MS. Since the mechanism of the disease is based on autoreactive T-cell responses directed against myelin antigens, oral tolerance is a promising approach for the MS treatment. Here, the experiments were performed to assess the impact of oral administration of recombinant Lactococcus lactis producing encephalogenic fragments of three myelin proteins: myelin basic protein, proteolipid protein, and myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein, on neuroimmunological changes in rats with experimental allergic encephalomyelitis (EAE) – an animal model of MS. Lactococcus lactis whole-cell lysates were administered intragastrically at two doses (103 and 106 colony forming units) in a twenty-fold feeding regimen to Lewis rats with EAE. Spinal cord slices were subjected to histopathological analysis and morphometric evaluation, and serum levels of cytokines (IL-1b, IL-10, TNF-α and IFN-γ) were measured. Results showed that administration of the L. lactis preparations at the tested doses to rats with EAE, diminished the histopathological changes observed in EAE rats and reduced the levels of serum IL-1b, IL-10 and TNF-α, previously increased by evoking EAE. This suggests that oral delivery of L. lactis producing myelin peptide fragments could be an alternative strategy to induce oral tolerance for the treatment of MS

Striking Denervation of Neuromuscular Junctions without Lumbar Motoneuron Loss in Geriatric Mouse Muscle

Reasons for the progressive age-related loss of skeletal muscle mass and function, namely sarcopenia, are complex. Few studies describe sarcopenia in mice, although this species is the mammalian model of choice for genetic intervention and development of pharmaceutical interventions for muscle degeneration. One factor, important to sarcopenia-associated neuromuscular change, is myofibre denervation. Here we describe the morphology of the neuromuscular compartment in young (3 month) compared to geriatric (29 month) old female C57Bl/6J mice. There was no significant difference in the size or number of motoneuron cell bodies at the lumbar level (L1–L5) of the spinal cord at 3 and 29 months. However, in geriatric mice, there was a striking increase (by ∼2.5 fold) in the percentage of fully denervated neuromuscular junctions (NMJs) and associated deterioration of Schwann cells in fast extensor digitorum longus (EDL), but not in slow soleus muscles. There were also distinct changes in myofibre composition of lower limb muscles (tibialis anterior (TA) and soleus) with a shift at 29 months to a faster phenotype in fast TA muscle and to a slower phenotype in slow soleus muscle. Overall, we demonstrate complex changes at the NMJ and muscle levels in geriatric mice that occur despite the maintenance of motoneuron cell bodies in the spinal cord. The challenge is to identify which components of the neuromuscular system are primarily responsible for the marked changes within the NMJ and muscle, in order to selectively target future interventions to reduce sarcopenia

Effect of carbon monoxide intoxication on rat brain catecholamines: Neuropathol.Pol.

NRC publication: Ye