Figure 7

Representative Bielschowsky stained spinal cord sections at the thoracic level of vehicle- and diazoxide-treated EAE mice (A). Quantification of silver staining of axons shows a decreased area of axonal loss in diazoxide-treated animals when compared to vehicle- EAE mice (B). Split image of gray matter thoracic spinal cord sections with Nissl staining and NeuN immunolabeling derived from healthy control mice (NO EAE), vehicle-treated EAE mice (VEHICLE) and 0.8 mg/kg diazoxide-treated EAE mice (DIAZOXIDE). Bottom panel shows higher magnification of neuronal integrity in the posterior (NeuN) and anterior (Nissl) section of the spinal cord (C). Upon quantification of neurons in the entire delineated gray matter, NeuN-immunolabeled neurons significantly decreased by nearly 32% in vehicle-treated EAE mice when compared to normal controls, whereas no statistically significant differences were observed between diazoxide-treated animals and normal controls (D). Results are expressed as mean ± SEM. n (animals) per group ≥ 6. Slices analyzed per animal and section ≥ 3. *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01. Scale bar = 100 μm for A,B and C (upper panel). Scale bar = 45 μm for C (bottom panel).