Fig. 1

Disease curve of the EAE animals and determination of Δ^ψ  _m and cytochrome C release in the brain and spinal cord. The EAE animals were sacrificed between days 11 and 13, all with a clinical score ≥3 (a). The mitochondrial membrane potential was monitored continuously every 3 min, for 60 min, in the brain (b) and spinal cord (c) isolates. The ratio was significantly higher in the PBS and the CFA 5 groups compared to the 5 and 7 DPI groups in both the brain and spinal cord (mean ± SEM, (p < 0.01). Loss of cytochrome C from the mitochondrial to the cytoplasmic fraction in the brain (d) and spinal cord (e) was only significant in the EAE group, whereas the 7 dpi group showed a tendency (p < 0.059) towards decreased amounts in the mitochondrial fraction, compared to the CFA 7 group. n = 5 in each group in d and e (data are presented as mean ± SEM, *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01)