Additive effect of the combination of glatiramer acetate and minocycline in a model of MS

There have been significant advances in the treatment of multiple sclerosis (MS) in recent years, but further improvement in therapy is required as not all patients have responded optimally. An approach to enhancing MS treatment is to combine drugs that impact on different aspects of the disease process. We have described that the tetracycline derivative, minocycline, attenuates the severity of experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE), a model of MS. Here, we have evaluated the combination of minocycline and glatiramer acetate (GA), a current therapy in MS, on the course of EAE in mice. This combination resulted in a significant reduction of disease severity and disease burden with attenuation of the inflammation, axonal loss and demyelination. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.