Figure 1.
Treatment with anti-EGF Ab ameliorated EAE severity and delayed the onset of the second relapse. Relapsing experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) was induced in 36 SJL female mice that were subcutaneously injected with PLP139-151 peptide on day 0 in Freund's adjuvant and were injected intraperitoneally with 300 ng pertussis toxin on day 0 and 48 hours after induction of EAE. The mice were divided in 3 groups (n = 12 each). On day 9 after induction, the mice were intravenously injected with either 60 μg/mouse anti-human EGF Ab or PBS alone (the vehicle) or with 60 μg/mouse normal goat IgG and they served as controls (n = 12 in each group). A therapy with anti-EGF Ab significantly ameliorated EAE severity during the second relapse and postponed its onset, an effect that was significant between days 25 and 36 after induction.