Therapeutic efficacy of baicalin on experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis through down-regulation of JAK-STAT and NF-κB signaling pathways (THER3P.876)

Baicalin (Ba) is a bioactive flavonoid compound derived from the root of Scutellaria baicalensis. It is widely used for the treatment of various inflammatory diseases in traditional Chinese medicine. In this study, we demonstrated that Ba was efficacious in experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE), an animal model for multiple sclerosis. Treatment with Ba led to amelioration of disease severity in myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein-induced EAE, which correlated with reduced spinal cord inflammation and demyelination. The underlying mechanism of Ba-induced effects involved prevention entry of immune cells into the CNS, inhibition of Th1 and Th17 cell differentiation through JAK/STAT and NfκB signaling pathways, and reduction of proinflammatory molecular and chemokine expression. Ba treatment completely abolished the pathogenic Th17 cells responses to MOG35-55 in an adoptive transfer EAE model, and the same treatment significantly inhibited the ability of MOG 35-55-reactive Th1 cells to induce EAE. This study provides new evidence that natural compounds, such as Ba, are of great value in the search for novel anti-inflammatory agents and therapeutic targets for autoimmune diseases.