J Clin Invest 2002 Jan;109(2):233-41
Howard LM, Ostrovidov S, Smith CE,
Dal Canto MC, Miller SD.
Department of Microbiology-Immunology
and the Interdepartmental Immunobiology Center, and. Department of Pathology,
Northwestern University Medical School, Chicago, Illinois, USA.
Experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) is a Th1-mediated demyelinating disease of the CNS with similarities to multiple sclerosis.
We and others have shown that a short-term course of anti-CD154 mAb treatment to block CD154-CD40 interactions can be used to prevent or even treat ongoing PLP139-151-induced relapsing EAE.
However, little is known of the long-term effects of CD154 blockade on the development of antigen-specific T cell function.
Here, we show that short-term treatment with anti-CD154 at the time of PLP139-151/CFA immunization inhibits clinical disease for up to 100 days after immunization.
At this point, comparable numbers of Th1 cells are observed in anti-CD154 and control Ig-treated mice, as assessed by antigen-specific ELISPOT assays.
Thus, the long-term Th1/Th2 balance is largely unaffected. Inflammatory responses are diminished in anti-CD154-treated mice, as indicated by reduced in vivo delayed-type hypersensitivity and reduced levels of splenic IFN-gamma secretion in vitro.
However, upon adoptive transfer of T cells isolated from the spleens of anti-CD154-treated mice, these cells contributed as effectively to clinical disease as those obtained from control-treated mice.
Thus, anti-CD154 therapy leads to long-term therapeutic efficacy without exerting a long-term influence on Th1 development.