THERAPEUTIC EFFECT OF NUCLEOSIDE ANALOGS ON EXPERIMENTAL

AUTOIMMUNE ENCEPHALOMYELITIS IN DARK AGOUTI RATS

 

DANIJELA STOJKOV1*, IRENA LAVRNJA1, SANJA ŠUBAŠIĆ2, IVANA BJELOBABA1, SANJA PEKOVIĆ1, IVANA GAĐANSKI1,

MARIJA MOSTARICA-STOJKOVIĆ3, STANISLAVA STOŠIĆ-GRUJIČIĆ1, LJ. RAKIĆ4 and MIRJANA STOJILJKOVIĆ1

 

1 Department of Neurobiology and Immunology, Siniša Stanković Institute for Biological Research, University of Belgrade, Bulevar Despota Stefana 142, 11060 Belgrade, Serbia and Montenegro 2 Faculty of Biology, University of Belgrade, Studentski trg 3, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia and Montenegro

3 Institute of Microbiology and Immunology, School of Medicine, Dr Subotića 1, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia and Montenegro

4 ICN Galenika Pharmaceutical Works, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia and Montenegro

 

Abstract - Experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) is a commonly used animal model of the human neurological disorder multiple sclerosis. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the effect of combined treatment with two nucleoside analogs, ribavirin and tiazofurin, on development of EAE actively induced in highly susceptible dark agouti rats. The obtained results showed that ribavirin and tiazofurin applied either separately or in combination from the onset of the firstsymptoms of EAE after its induction (therapeutic treatment) significantly suppressed EAE’s clinical symptoms. However, the most pronounced effect was gained with combined treatment, probably as a result of synergistic/additive action.