In the present study, we investigated the impact of a systemic E. coli infection during the preclinical and clinical phase of experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE), an animal model of MS induced by immunization with myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG) in female Brown Norway rats, which shows a progressive disease course without any definite form of remission. The gene discussed is MOG; the disease is escherichia coli infection.