Maraviroc attenuates the pathogenesis of experimental autoimmune encephalitis

Abstract It has been shown that the blockade of chemokine receptor type 5 can dampen inflammatory reaction within the central nervous system (CNS). In the present study, we utilized maraviroc, a potent antagonist o CCR5, to examine whether this drug can mitigate neuroinflammation in the spinal cord of mice induced by experimental autoimmune encephalitis (EAE), considered a murine model of multiple sclerosis (MS). For this aim, mice were immunized with myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein 35-55 (MOG35-55), followed by pertussis toxin to induce paralysis in EAE mice. The animals intraperitoneally received various doses of maraviroc (5, 25, and 50 mg/kg body weight) when the early clinical signs of EAE appeared. The results demonstrated that the administration of maraviroc led to a marked decrease in the clinical score and improvement in behavioral motor functions. Moreover, our finding indicated that the administration of maraviroc significantly attenuates the infiltration of inflammatory cells to the spinal cord, microgliosis, astrogliosis, pro-inflammatory cytokines, and cell death in EAE mice. The flow cytometry data indicated that a decreased number of CD4+ and CD8+ T cells in the peripheral blood of mice with EAE without affecting the number of T regulatory cells (CD4 + CD25+ forkhead box protein 3+). Finally, it seems that maraviroc is well-tolerated, and targeting CCR5 could open up a new horizon in the treatment of MS.