Fig. 6

Involvement of neutrophil elastase in MIA-induced saphenous nerve demyelination. Upper panels show representative electron micrographs and lower panel shows assessment of myelin thickness of neurons from mouse saphenous nerves 14 days after intra-articular injection of MIA or saline. Injection of MIA (0.3 mg/10 μl day 0) caused significant demyelination (increased G-ratio) compared to injection of saline (10 μl day 0). Systemic treatment with the neutrophil elastase inhibitors sivelestat (50 mg/kg i.p., administered 10 min before and 240 min after MIA injection on day 0 and once on days 1 to 3) or serpinA1 (10 μg i.p., administered 15 min before and 12 h after MIA injection) prevented demyelination. (n = 5–8 per group) *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, compared to the MIA control, one-way ANOVA