Figure 2.

Therapeutic effect of GAL-1 in murine CIA. Arthritis was induced in male DBA/1 mice by intradermal injection of 100 μg native bovine CII in CFA. Hind paw swelling (a and d) was monitored with calipers from the day of disease onset onwards and expressed in mm (mean ± SEM). Clinical score (b and e), was assessed as described in Materials and Methods (mean ± SEM). Number of arthritic paws was assessed visually (c and f) (mean ± SEM). A single intraperitoneal injection at the day of disease onset of mGAL-1 expressing DBA/1 fibroblasts (4 × 10⁶ cells/mouse; panels a, b, and c, □; n = 10), or daily administration for 11 d of recombinant GAL-1 (100 μg) from the day of established arthritis (d, e, and f, □; n = 10), was able to significantly reduce paw swelling in comparison to pCDNA3 control transfectants (a, b, and c, ♦; n = 10) or saline-treated mice (d, e, and f, ♦; n = 8). SEM bars are not shown where they are smaller than the symbol. Two sets of independent in vivo experiments were carried out with very similar results. The results shown are representative of one such experiment.