Method of Housing and Transfer and Experimental Autoimmune Encephalomyelitis: An Experimental Study on C57BL/6

Background: Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune inflammatory demyelinating disease of human central nervous system. Although experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) is the most commonly used method to induce MS, there are unexpected results in the modeling outcomes, which led to inappropriate clinical score scaling. Recent studies focused on the possible factors that may affect the final outcome of EAE modeling. Some of these factors were observed and discussed in our experiment on C57BL/6 model. Objectives: The present research was carried out to find the possible effects of environmental factors, including transfer, handling, housing, and dark-light cycle on EAE modeling scoring. Materials and Methods: Twenty female mice (C57BL/6) were used that divided into two groups (n = 10) by random. The routine method of MS induction in mammals was used in both groups. Following induction, animals of group one were placed in a separated room with the least local translocation and handling, whereas animals of the second group were placed in the same room as the other animals with normal local allocation as others. The animals were observed and scored using routine clinical scoring for EAE. Results: Our data showed that the EAE induction in group one was significantly more successful than group two (with the mean score 3). Conclusions: Although the EAE is still a scientific method to induce MS in rodents, it requires more attention to environmental factors that might influence the result. The mechanisms of these factors are unknown, but it seems that the role of housing environment should be taken into consideration.