The iNOS Activity During an Immune Response Controls the CNS Pathology in Experimental Autoimmune Encephalomyelitis

2019

Inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) plays a critical role in the regulation of multiple sclerosis (MS) and experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE). Previous studies have shown that iNOS plays pathogenic as well as regulatory roles in MS and EAE. However, how does iNOS alters the pathophysiology of the central nervous system (CNS) in neuronal autoimmunity is not clearly understood. In the present work, we show that treatment of mice with L-NAME, an iNOS inhibitor, during the antigen-priming phase primarily alters brain pathology, while in the subsequent effector phase of the immune response, the spinal cord is involved. Inhibition of iNOS during the priming phase of the immune res…