Treatment of autoimmune MRL/Mp-lpr/lpr mice with cholera toxin

The autoimmune manifestations of MRL/Mp-lpr/lpr(MRL/l), a murine model of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), were alleviated by administering 1 microgram cholera toxin (CT) every 14 days. The beneficial effects were: (i) significant prolongation of survival time, (ii) prevention of lymphadenopathy, (iii) improvement of T cell mitogenic responses and suppression of a B cell mitogenic response, (iv) decrease in serum anti-DNA and anti-Sm antibodies, (v) increase in IL-2 production by stimulation of spleen cells with concanavalin A (Con A). It is possible that CT may be effective for treatment of murine lupus nephritis by modulating polyclonal lymphocyte activation. This type of immunomodulation may pave the way toward treatment of lupus and other autoimmune diseases.