960. Gene-Based Delivery of Interferon-beta Is Efficacious in a Murine Model of Acute Experimental Allergic Encephalomyelitis

Experimental Allergic Encephalomyelitis (EAE) is a model of central nervous system (CNS) inflammation that ensues following immunization with certain CNS antigens, for example brain derived proteolipid or myelin basic protein. The course and clinical manifestations of EAE are similar to multiple sclerosis (MS) in humans and it has become an accepted animal model to study MS. There have been several reports in which Interferon-beta (IFN-b) protein has been shown to be effective in murine and rat models of EAE. It has also been shown that local CNS delivery of a plasmid DNA encoding IFN-b decreased the severity of the disease. The purpose of this study was to demonstrate that systemic expression of murine IFN-b (mIFN-b) following gene-based delivery of plasmid DNA to hind limb skeletal muscle is effective in reducing the clinical manifestations of disease in a rodent EAE model.