Female rats of Lewis/sea strain were sensitized with a mixture of the homogenate of brain or spinal cord of guinea pigs and Freund's complete adjuvant in order to evoke experimental allergic encephalomyelitis (EAE), and change in the lysosomal enzyme activities, such as those of β-glucuronidase (β-G) and arylsulfatase-A and -B (AS-A and -B), in the brain was investigated.
It was found in the present study that I) the elevation of exogenious lysosomal AS and /β-G activities in rat brain increased as EAE developed, II) significant change in both enzyme activities within the lysosome was not observed, III) increase of AS-B activity was remarkable, while AS-A activity did not change in the brain, IV) cerebral AS and β-G activities increased significantly in the EAE-induced rat, and V) at the time of EAE onset, elevation of enzyme activity and cerebral lesion were seen in parallel manner.
Thus, possibility of significant change of the lysosomal enzyme activity in EAE-induced animals was suggested as EAE developed. Increase in total AS activity during the development of EAE might be attributable to a particular increase of AS-B activity, suggesting that the elevation of AS-B activity correlated to abnormal metabolism of the sulfate-containing glycosaminoglycan occuring in the myelin in EAE.
