Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a human autoimmune neurodegenerative disease with an unknown etiology. Despite various therapies, there is no effective cure for MS. Since the mechanism of the disease is based on autoreactive T-cell responses directed against myelin antigens, oral tolerance is a promising approach for the MS treatment. Here, the experiments were performed to assess the impact of oral administration of recombinant Lactococcus lactis producing encephalogenic fragments of three myelin proteins: myelin basic protein, proteolipid protein, and myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein, on neuroimmunological changes in rats with experimental allergic encephalomyelitis (EAE) – an animal model of MS.

Lactococcus lactis whole-cell lysates were administered intragastrically at two doses (10³ and 10⁶ colony forming units) in a twenty-fold feeding regimen to Lewis rats with EAE. Spinal cord slices were subjected to histopathological analysis and morphometric evaluation, and serum levels of cytokines (IL-1b, IL-10, TNF-α and IFN-γ) were measured. Results showed that administration of the L. lactis preparations at the tested doses to rats with EAE, diminished the histopathological changes observed in EAE rats and reduced the levels of serum IL-1b, IL-10 and TNF-α, previously increased by evoking EAE. This suggests that oral delivery of L. lactis producing myelin peptide fragments could be an alternative strategy to induce oral tolerance for the treatment of MS.