Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy Alleviates the Autoimmune Encephalomyelitis via the Reduction of IL-17a and GM-Csf Production of Autoreactive T Cells as Well as Boosting the Immunosuppressive IL-10 in the Central Nervous System Tissue Lesions
Hsin-Ying Clair Chiou,
Shu-Hung Huang,
Chih-Hsing Hung,
Su-Min Tsai,
Hui-Ru Kuo,
Yu-Rui Huang,
Jiunn-Wei Wang,
Szu-Chia Chen,
Chao-Hung Kuo,
Deng-Chyang Wu,
Shau-Ku Huang,
Shih-Hsien Hsu,
Ming-Hong Lin
Affiliations
Hsin-Ying Clair Chiou
Center of Teaching and Research, Kaohsiung Municipal Siaogang Hospital, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung 812, Taiwan
Shu-Hung Huang
Department of Surgery, School of Medicine, College of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung 807, Taiwan
Chih-Hsing Hung
Research Center for Environmental Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung 807, Taiwan
Su-Min Tsai
Department of Microbiology and Immunology, School of Medicine, College of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung 807, Taiwan
Hui-Ru Kuo
Graduate Institute of Medicine, College of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung 807, Taiwan
Yu-Rui Huang
Department of Microbiology and Immunology, School of Medicine, College of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung 807, Taiwan
Jiunn-Wei Wang
Department of Internal Medicine, School of Medicine, College of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung 807, Taiwan
Szu-Chia Chen
Department of Internal Medicine, School of Medicine, College of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung 807, Taiwan
Chao-Hung Kuo
Department of Internal Medicine, School of Medicine, College of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung 807, Taiwan
Deng-Chyang Wu
Department of Internal Medicine, School of Medicine, College of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung 807, Taiwan
Shau-Ku Huang
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, National Health Research Institutes, Miaoli County 350, Taiwan
Shih-Hsien Hsu
Graduate Institute of Medicine, College of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung 807, Taiwan
Ming-Hong Lin
Department of Microbiology and Immunology, School of Medicine, College of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung 807, Taiwan
Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic autoimmune disease mainly caused by autoreactive T cells, followed by neuronal demyelination and disabling paralysis. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) is usually an adjunct to therapy for the treatment of neurological disorders. However, it remains still controversial whether HBOT is an effective option for the treatment of MS. Experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) is a well-studied mouse model investigated for the MS pathogenesis and the efficacy of the therapeutic intervention. Both encephalitogenic Th1 and Th17 are pivotal T cell subsets immunopathogenically producing several disease-initiating/modifying cytokines in the central nervous system (CNS) lesions to further exacerbate/ameliorate the progression of EAE or MS. However, it remains unclear whether HBOT modulates the context of T helper cell subsets in CNS lesions. We employed EAE in the presence of HBOT to assess whether disease amelioration is attributed to alterations of CNS-infiltrating T cell subsets. Our results demonstrated that semi-therapeutic HBOT significantly alleviated the progression of EAE, at least, via the suppression of Th17 response, the downregulation of CD4 T helper cells expressing GM-CSF or TNF-α, and the boosting of immunomodulatory IL-4 or IL-10-expressed CD4 T cells in the CNS lesions. Conclusively, HBOT attenuated EAE through the modulation of T cell responses in an earlier stage.