The Mechanism of Sesame Oil in Ameliorating Experimental Autoimmune Encephalomyelitis in C57BL/6 Mice

Abstract

Experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) is a Th1 cell-mediated autoimmune disease of the CNS that serves as an animal model for multiple sclerosis (MS). The study investigated the effectiveness of treatment with sesame oil on the development of EAE. EAE was induced in 8 week old C57BL/6 mice with an emulsion of MOG35-55. Therapy with sesame oil (4 mL/kg/day as oral gavage) was started on day 3 before the immunization. IFN-gamma and IL-10 production from cultured spleen supernatants were determined by the ELISA method. The results showed that daily oral gavage of sesame oil significantly reduced the clinical symptoms of EAE in C57BL/6 mice. In addition, sesame oil-treated mice displayed a significantly delayed disease onset. Mononuclear cells isolated from spleen of sesame oil-treated mice showed a significant decrease in the production of IFN-gamma compared with control mice (p = 0.001). IL-10 production was also enhanced in splenic mononuclear cells in sesame oil-treated mice. The ratio of IFN-gamma to IL-10 in sesame oil-treated EAE mice was significantly less than in non-treated EAE mice (p = 0.01). This report indicates that sesame oil therapy protected mice from developing EAE by reducing IFN-gamma secretion. Thus, sesame oil treatment may be effective in MS patients by immunomodulating the Th1 immune response.