A Mushroom Extract Piwep from Phellinus igniarius Ameliorates Experimental Autoimmune Encephalomyelitis by Inhibiting Immune Cell Infiltration in the Spinal Cord
Figure 1
Piwep ameliorates the clinical signs and disease progression of myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG) induced EAE. Clinical scores were recorded daily until 21 days after EAE induction. The clinical signs of EAE first appeared on day 13 and reached peak levels on day 20 from the 1st MOG (M) immunization. Piwep (MOG + Piwep) or its vehicle (MOG + vehicle) was intraperitoneally administered during the entire period. (a) Piwep profoundly reduced the EAE clinical score induced by MOG. Data are mean SEM ( each group) compared with Piwep treated group. (b) Piwep reduced the incidence rate of EAE induced by MOG. (c) Piwep reduced MOG-induced demyelination in spinal cord of EAE mice. On day 21 after the initial immunization, demyelination in the spinal cord was visualized with LFB staining. White matter damage is reflected by reduced LFB staining in the spinal cord. (c) LFB staining of the spinal cord showed extensive demyelination in the MOG-immunized EAE mice. EAE-associated demyelination is almost completely absent in EAE mice treated with Piwep. The square-shaped area in the low power magnification shown in the left panel was enlarged four hundred times and illustrated in the right panel. Scale bar represents 100 μm.
