Gut response. Therapy with ingested immunomodulatory proteins
S. A. Brod
Department of Neurology, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, USA.
The recent negative results of the 2-year phase III trial of enteral myelin
(Myloral), a preparation of bovine myelin given orally in multiple
sclerosis (MS), warn that the efficacy of oral tolerization (ie, inducing
hyporesponsiveness to a specific autoantigen) and the attractiveness of
oral desensitization in animal models of MS may not translate into clinical
practice. However, such failure should not deter further examination of the
mouth, an immunologically interesting and patient-friendly route for
immunomodulatory proteins.
