%0 Journal Article
%T Effects of Vaccination with Altered Peptide Ligand on Chronic Pain in Experimental Autoimmune Encephalomyelitis, an Animal Model of Multiple Sclerosis
%A David H. Tian
%A Chamini J. Perera
%A Vasso Apostolopoulos
%A Gila Moalem-Taylor
%J Frontiers in Neurology
%D 2013
%I Frontiers Media
%R 10.3389/fneur.2013.00168
%X Neuropathic pain is a chronic symptom of multiple sclerosis (MS) and affects nearly half of all MS sufferers. A key instigator of this pain is the pro-inflammatory response in MS. We investigated the behavioral effects of immunization with a mutant peptide of myelin basic protein (MBP), termed altered peptide ligand (APL), known to initiate immune deviation from a pro-inflammatory state to an anti-inflammatory response in experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE), an animal model of MS. Male and female Lewis rats were injected with vehicle control or with varying doses of 50 or 100 ¦Ìg guinea pig MBP in combination with or without APL. APL-treated animals established significantly lower disease severity compared to encephalitogenic MBP-treated animals. Animals with EAE developed mechanical, but not thermal pain hypersensitivity. Mechanical pain sensitivities were either improved or normalized during periods of clinical disease in male and female APL-treated animals as compared to the encephalitogenic group. No significant changes to thermal latency were observed upon co-immunization with APL. Together these data indicate that APL ameliorates disease states and selectively mediates an analgesic effect on EAE animals.
%K experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis
%K altered peptide ligand
%K multiple sclerosis
%K mechanical allodynia
%K thermal hyperalgesia
%K nociception
%U http://www.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fneur.2013.00168/abstract