Abstract: To investigate the effect of clemastine on the expression of myelin basic protein (MBP) in experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) model mice. Methods Fifty C57BL/6 female mice were randomly divided into five groups according to the random number table after adaptive feeding: normal group, EAE group and high,middle and low dose of clemastine［40, 20 and 10 mg/（kg·d）］intervention groups. There were 10 mice in each group. EAE models were induced by antigen myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein 35-55 (MOG35-55) in EAE group and three clemastine intervention groups. The intervention groups received preventive administration of clemastine, while the normalgroup and EAE group received physiological saline by intraperitoneal injection continuously for 21 days. The clinical manifestations of the mice were evaluated daily after the model was established, and the neurological impairment scores were scored. The mice were sacrificed after 21 days. Luxol Fast Blue (LFB) staining and demyelination score were observed in pathological sections of spinal cord of each group. Changes of MBP and its mRNA expression in brain homogenate of mice were observed in five groups of mice. Results Mice in the normal group didn’t suffer from the disease. Mice of EAE group and clemastine intervention groups began to develop the disease in different degrees from the 7th to 8th d, and reached the peak from the 12th to 16th d. With the increase of intervention dosage, the peak score decreased (P＜0.01). LFB staining showed that no demyelination changes in spinal cord in normal group. The significant demyelination in spinal cord was found in EAE group. Changes of the demyelination in spinal cord were significantly improved in three clemastine intervention groups, and the degree of improvement was dose-dependent (P＜0.01). Compared with the normal group, the MBP and its mRNA expression were significantly decreased in EAE group and three clemastine interventions groups (P＜0.05).Compared with the EAE group, the MBP and its mRNA expression were significantly increased in three clemastine groups(P＜0.05), which presented a dose-dependent. Conclusion Clemastine can prevent EAE in model mice induced by MOG35-55 in a dose-dependent manner, which may be related to the promotion of MBP expression and remyelination.

Key words: encephalomyelitis, autoimmune, experimental, clemastine, myelin basic proteins, demyelination, remyelination