1. Platelet Inhibition by Low-Dose Acetylsalicylic Acid Reduces Neuroinflammation in an Animal Model of Multiple Sclerosis.
- Author
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Vogelsang, Anna, Eichler, Susann, Huntemann, Niklas, Masanneck, Lars, Böhnlein, Hannes, Schüngel, Lisa, Willison, Alice, Loser, Karin, Nieswandt, Bernhard, Kehrel, Beate E., Zarbock, Alexander, Göbel, Kerstin, and Meuth, Sven G.
- Subjects
ASPIRIN ,NEUROINFLAMMATION ,MULTIPLE sclerosis ,ANIMAL disease control ,T cells ,ANIMAL models in research ,BLOOD platelets - Abstract
Aside from the established immune-mediated etiology of multiple sclerosis (MS), compelling evidence implicates platelets as important players in disease pathogenesis. Specifically, numerous studies have highlighted that activated platelets promote the central nervous system (CNS)-directed adaptive immune response early in the disease course. Platelets, therefore, present a novel opportunity for modulating the neuroinflammatory process that characterizes MS. We hypothesized that the well-known antiplatelet agent acetylsalicylic acid (ASA) could inhibit neuroinflammation by affecting platelets if applied at low-dose and investigated its effect during experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) as a model to study MS. We found that oral administration of low-dose ASA alleviates symptoms of EAE accompanied by reduced inflammatory infiltrates and less extensive demyelination. Remarkably, the percentage of CNS-infiltrated CD4
+ T cells, the major drivers of neuroinflammation, was decreased to 40.98 ± 3.28% in ASA-treated mice compared to 56.11 ± 1.46% in control animals at the disease maximum as revealed by flow cytometry. More interestingly, plasma levels of thromboxane A2 were decreased, while concentrations of platelet factor 4 and glycoprotein VI were not affected by low-dose ASA treatment. Overall, we demonstrate that low-dose ASA could ameliorate the platelet-dependent neuroinflammatory response in vivo, thus indicating a potential treatment approach for MS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]- Published
- 2021
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