Biological activities of deoxyspergualin in autoimmune disease mice.

An assessment of the prophylactic and ameliorative effects of deoxyspergualin (NKT-01), an immunosuppressive agent, was carried out in male MRL/MpJ-lpr/lpr (MRL/1) mice which spontaneously develop lupus-like lesions. When NKT-01 was administered ip daily from the age of either 8 or 19 weeks, diseases such as massive lymphadenopathy, circulating anti-DNA antibody and lupus nephritis were markedly suppressed. The primary response to lipopolysaccharide was significantly reduced in MRL/1 mice administered NKT-01 but the response to sheep red blood cells was not affected. The ability of spleen cells to release interleukins 2 and 3 with or without mitogen was significantly enhanced in mice receiving NKT-01. These findings demonstrate that NKT-01 has therapeutic activity against the development of spontaneous disease in MRL/1 mice.