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Experimental autoimmune neuritis (EAN) is a T cell-mediated autoimmune inflammatory demyelinating disease of the peripheral nervous system and widely-used animal model of human inflammatory demyelinating polyradiculoneuropathies. Doxycycline is a well-known antibiotic and has been reported to have neuroprotective and anti-inflammatory effects. Here we investigated the effects of doxycycline on rat EAN. Therapeutic treatment with doxycycline (40 mg/kg body weight daily from the Day 9 to Day 14 post immunization) significantly attenuated the severity of EAN, decreased inflammatory infiltration of macrophages, B- and T-cells and demyelination in sciatic nerves of EAN rats. Pro-inflammatory molecules including matrixmetalloproteinase-9, inducible nitric oxide synthase and interleukin-17 were greatly decreased in sciatic nerves by administration of doxycycline as well. Taken together, our data …