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Updated: Feb 7, 2026
Induction and Diverse Assessment Indicators of Experimental Autoimmune Encephalomyelitis
Published on: September 9, 2022
Radix Rehmanniae Extract Ameliorates Experimental Autoimmune Encephalomyelitis by Suppressing Macrophage-Derived
Wenting Li1, Hao Wu1, Chong Gao1
1LKS Faculty of Medicine, School of Chinese Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong.
Abstract:
Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a neuroinflammatory disease in central nervous system (CNS) without effective treatment or medication yet. With high prevalence of MS patients worldwide and poor therapeutic outcome, seeking novel therapeutic strategy for MS is timely important. Radix Rehmanniae (RR), a typical Chinese Medicinal herb, has been used for neuroinflammatory diseases in Traditional Chinese Medicine for centuries. However, scientific evidence and underlying mechanisms of RR for MS are unclear. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that RR could attenuate the progress and severity of MS via suppressing macrophage-derived nitrative damage and inflammation by using experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) model for mimicking MS pathology. The results showed the RR treatment effectively ameliorated clinical disease severity, inhibited inflammation/demyelination in spinal cord, and alleviated CNS infiltration of encephalitogenic T cells and activated macrophages. Meanwhile, RR possessed bioactivities of scavenging ONOO- and reducing the expression of iNOS and NADPH oxidases in the spinal cords of the EAE mice. Furthermore, RR treatment suppressed nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) signaling pathway in the splenocytes of EAE mice. The in vitro experiments on macrophages and neuronal cells exerted consistent results with the in vivo animal experiments. Taken together, we conclude that Radix Rehmanniae extract has therapeutic values for ameliorating EAE/MS pathological process and disease severity and its underlying mechanisms are associated with anti-inflammation and inhibiting macrophage-derived nitrative damages. Further study could yield novel promising therapeutic agent for multiple sclerosis.
Insights
Radix Rehmanniae (RR) extract shows therapeutic potential for multiple sclerosis (MS) by reducing central nervous system inflammation and damage. This study investigated RR
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Immunology
- Pharmacology
Background:
- Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a debilitating neuroinflammatory disease with limited treatment options.
- Traditional Chinese Medicine utilizes Radix Rehmanniae (RR) for inflammatory conditions, but its efficacy for MS lacks scientific validation.
- Understanding the mechanisms of RR in MS is crucial for developing new therapeutic strategies.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the therapeutic potential of Radix Rehmanniae (RR) extract in ameliorating multiple sclerosis (MS) pathology.
- To elucidate the underlying mechanisms by which RR exerts its effects, focusing on inflammation and nitrative damage.
- To evaluate RR's efficacy using the experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) model, which mimics MS.
Main Methods:
- Utilized the experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) mouse model to simulate MS pathology.
- Administered Radix Rehmanniae (RR) extract to EAE mice and assessed clinical disease severity.
- Analyzed spinal cord tissue for inflammation, demyelination, immune cell infiltration, and molecular markers (iNOS, NADPH oxidases, NF-κB signaling).
- Conducted in vitro experiments on macrophages and neuronal cells to corroborate in vivo findings.
Main Results:
- RR treatment significantly reduced clinical disease severity in EAE mice.
- RR inhibited spinal cord inflammation, demyelination, and infiltration of T cells and macrophages.
- RR demonstrated bioactivity in scavenging peroxynitrite (ONOO-) and reducing iNOS and NADPH oxidase expression.
- RR suppressed the nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) signaling pathway in splenocytes.
Conclusions:
- Radix Rehmanniae (RR) extract possesses therapeutic value for ameliorating MS/EAE pathological processes and disease severity.
- RR's mechanisms involve anti-inflammatory effects and inhibition of macrophage-derived nitrative damage.
- Further research into RR could lead to novel therapeutic agents for multiple sclerosis.
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