Effects of human recombinant-interferon β in experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis in guinea pigs

Figures & data

Figure 1.  Effect of IFN beta-1b on mitogen-induced proliferation of peripheral blood mononuclear cells of guinea pigs (A), rabbits (B) and rats (C). The mononuclear cells were treated with 10 μg/ml PHA (Figures A and B) or 3 μg/ml Con A (Figure B) for 72 h. The cell proliferation was assessed by [³H]-TdR uptake. Cells were pulsed with [³H]-TdR 24 h before harvesting. Results represent means ± SD (n = 5). Statistical analysis was made according to Dunnett’s test; significant difference was noted in the figures at p <0.05.

Figure 2.  Changes in 2′,5′-oligoadenylate synthetase (2-5 AS) activity of peripheral blood after treatment of animals with Betaferon. Betaferon or IFN-β1b was given subcutaneously into the abdomen of the animals. The 2-5AS activity of peripheral blood samples was determined at 0, 24, 48 and 96 h after Betaferon injection. Each point represents the mean ± SD of four animals. *Significantly different from pre-values at the time 0, p <0.05; **p <0.01; ***p <0.001 (paired t-test).

Figure 3.  Inhibitory effects of Betaferon on neurological deficits of guinea pigs that were immunized with porcine myelin basic protein (MBP). Vehicle (——) or GPA-Betaferon at 1.2 MIU/kg (- - -) or 12 MIU/kg (- — -) was administered subcutaneously daily for 20 days. The mean of the daily clinical scores for each group of 10 animals is shown. See Table 1 for the statistical analysis.

Table 1.  Cumulative clinical scores of EAE guinea pigs after repeated subcutaneous administration of GPA-Betaferon.

Treatment	Dose (MIU/kg/day)	n	Mean ± SD	p values
Vehicle	-	10	25.0 ± 3.1	-	-
IFN β-1b	1.2	10	17.5 ± 9.1	0.043	*
IFN β-1b	12.0	10	17.4 ± 11.5	0.111	ns

The results are expressed as the mean ± SD of the cumulative clinical score over a period of 20 days from the day of starting the sensitization (day 0).

*p <0.05 versus vehicle-group (Dunnett’s test); ns, no significant difference.

Figure 4.  Effects of GPA-Betaferon on body weight in guinea pigs sensitized with porcine myelin basic protein (P-MBP). Vehicle (•) or GPA-Betaferon at 1.2 MIU/kg (○) or 12 MIU/kg (□) was administered subcutaneously daily for 20 days. Each value represents the mean ± SD, and figures in parentheses indicate the number of surviving animals.