Non-invasive measurement of brain damage in a primate model of multiple sclerosis

Trends Mol Med. 2004 Feb;10(2):85-91. doi: 10.1016/j.molmed.2003.12.008.

Abstract

Early recognition of whether a product has potential as a new therapy for treating multiple sclerosis (MS) relies upon the quality of the animal models used in the preclinical trials. The promising effects of new treatments in rodent models of experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) have rarely been reproduced in patients suffering from MS. EAE in outbred marmoset monkeys, Callithrix jacchus, is a valid new model, and might provide an experimental link between EAE in rodent models and human MS. Using magnetic resonance imaging techniques similar to those used in patients suffering from MS pathological abnormalities in the brain, white matter of the animal can be visualized and quantified. Moreover, NMR spectroscopy, in combination with pattern recognition, offers an advanced uroscopic technique for the identification of biomarkers of inflammatory demyelination.

Publication types

  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Animals, Outbred Strains
  • Antigens, CD / immunology
  • Biomarkers
  • Brain / diagnostic imaging
  • Brain / pathology*
  • CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes / immunology
  • Callithrix
  • Chronic Disease
  • Demyelinating Diseases / immunology
  • Disease Models, Animal*
  • Encephalomyelitis, Autoimmune, Experimental / diagnostic imaging*
  • Encephalomyelitis, Autoimmune, Experimental / genetics
  • Encephalomyelitis, Autoimmune, Experimental / immunology
  • Encephalomyelitis, Autoimmune, Experimental / pathology*
  • Genes, MHC Class II / genetics
  • Genes, MHC Class II / immunology
  • Humans
  • Magnetic Resonance Imaging
  • Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy
  • Mice
  • Multiple Sclerosis / diagnostic imaging*
  • Multiple Sclerosis / immunology
  • Multiple Sclerosis / pathology*
  • Myelin Basic Protein / immunology
  • Myelin Basic Protein / pharmacology
  • Myelin Proteins
  • Myelin-Associated Glycoprotein / immunology
  • Myelin-Associated Glycoprotein / pharmacology
  • Myelin-Oligodendrocyte Glycoprotein
  • Radiography
  • T-Lymphocytes, Cytotoxic / immunology
  • Th2 Cells / immunology

Substances

  • Antigens, CD
  • Biomarkers
  • MOG protein, human
  • Mog protein, mouse
  • Myelin Basic Protein
  • Myelin Proteins
  • Myelin-Associated Glycoprotein
  • Myelin-Oligodendrocyte Glycoprotein