Fig. 1

Treatment of mice with FTY720 reduces incidence and severity of autoimmune arthritis. DR1 transgenic mice were immunized subcutaneously with 100 μg of type II collagen (CII) emulsified in complete Freund’s adjuvant, and they were given intraperitoneal injections of FTY720 or vehicle control three times per week for 3 weeks starting on the day of immunization (day 0), for a total of nine injections. a FTY720 at 1.0 mg/kg (open circles) and 0.2 mg/kg (gray circles) delayed the onset of disease (mean day 33 for control and days 40 and 42 for FTY720 groups; p < 0.03 for both groups) and reduced the disease incidence (p < 0.05 for days 30 through 40 for 1 mg/kg group, indicated by closed stars) in comparison to the vehicle control group (closed circles; n = 11 for each group). b Both doses of FTY720 reduced the number of arthritic limbs observed per arthritic mouse. Closed stars indicate p < 0.05. c Both doses of FTY720 reduced the mean arthritic score per arthritic mouse. Closed stars indicate p < 0.05. d FTY720 treatment reduced the production of CII-specific autoantibody. Antibody concentrations in sera obtained from the mice at days 30 and 50 after immunization were measured using a bead-based enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, and antibody concentrations were calculated using a CII-specific antibody standard. Closed stars indicate p < 0.05; error bars indicate standard deviation