Therapeutic effects of diosgenin in experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic autoimmune demyelinating disease of the central nervous system. Currently, there is no drug available to cure this kind of disease. Diosgenin is a plant-derived steroid saponin. A previous study in our lab revealed that diosgenin can promote oligodendrocyte progenitor cell differentiation and accelerate remyelination. In the present study, we found that diosgenin dose-dependently alleviated the progression of experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis with reduced central nervous system inflammation and demyelination. We also found that diosgenin treatment can significantly inhibit the activation of microglia and macrophages, suppress CD4⁺ T cell proliferation and hinder Th1/Th17 cell differentiation. Therefore, we suggested that diosgenin may be a potential therapeutic drug for inflammatory demyelinating diseases, such as MS.