Figure 2

Effect of PPAR-α on the anti-inflammatory property of simvastatin on the degree of SCI. No histological alterations have been found in the spinal cord tissue collected from PPAR-α WT or PPAR-α KO sham-operated mice (a,b and histological score h). A significant damage to the spinal cord from PPAR-αWT mice at the perilesional zone was observed from H&E staining (c see histological score h). The treatment of PPAR-αWT with simvastatin resulted in a significant decrease in the extent and severity of the histological signs (d, and histological score h). The absence of PPAR-α gene significantly increases the extent and severity of the histological signs (e, and histological score h). The genetic absence of the PPAR-α receptor (f) as well as the treatment with GW6471 (g) significantly blocked the effect of the simvastatin treatment (histological score h). Data are means ± SEM of 10 mice for each group. *P < 0.01 vs. Sham; °P < 0.01 vs. SCI-WT group; ‡P < 0.01 vs. simvastatin -treated -WT group. ND: not detectable.