Alkyllysophospholipid prevents induction of experimental allergic encephalomyelitis

Alkyllysophospholipids are synthetic analogues of natural phospholipids possessing a high immunomodulating and antitumoral capacity. Experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis is a model disease for multiple sclerosis which can be induced by injecting rats with myelin basic protein, MBP. The effect of one alkyllysophospholipid, ET-18-OCH3, on the course of experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis was investigated. It was found that animals treated with ET-18-OCH3 showed only weak signs of disease. MBP specific T-cell lines were co-cultivated with ET-18-OCH3. The compound suppressed T-cell proliferation markedly, suggesting that this might be its mode of action in vivo. Since ET-18-OCH3 has only low toxicity in man, it could be of interest to perform further studies on its effects on autoimmune, demyelinating disease.