Effect of spergualin in autoimmune disease mice.

We investigated the effect of spergualin (SGL) upon the development of spontaneous systemic lupus erythematosus-like lesions in male MRL/MpJ-lpr/lpr mice. SGL was administered ip at doses of 2.5, 5 and 10 mg/kg to two groups of mice. One group received SGL prophylactically from 7 to 21 weeks of age. The other group received SGL curatively from 13 to 27 weeks of age. The occurrence of lupus lesions was characterized by enlarged lymphoid organs, high anti-DNA titer and blood urea nitrogen, and severe glomerular nephritis. In both groups these characteristics were significantly suppressed by SGL in a dose-dependent manner. This inhibitory activity was greatest at a dose of 10 mg/kg. These findings suggest that SGL has prophylactic and curative effects against lupus lesions in autoimmune disease in mice.