Dose-Dependent Anti-Inflammatory and Neuroprotective Effects of an ανβ3 Integrin-Binding Peptide

Figure 12

C16 treatment reduced the loss of neurons both in spinal cord and brain. Nissl staining; bar = 100 μm. ((a), (c), (e), (g), (i), (k), (m), and (o) coronal sections of motor cortex; (b), (d), (f), (h), (j), (l), (n), and (p) traverse section through the lumbar spinal cord). At week 2 after immunization, normal rats group ((a), (b)), vehicle control rats ((c), (d)), 2 mg/per day C16 treated EAE rats ((e), (f)), and C16 late treated EAE rats ((g), (h)). At week 8 after immunization, vehicle control rats ((i), (j)), 0.5 mg/per day C16 treated EAE rats ((k), (l)), 2 mg/per day C16 treated EAE rats ((m), (n)), and C16 late treated EAE rats ((o), (p)). (q) C16 treatment increased the surviving neural cells (% of the normal rats) in different dose groups, calculated after Nissl staining. ^a𝑃<0.05 versus normal rats; ^b𝑃<0.05 versus vehicle control rats at week 2 postimmunization group; ^f𝑃<0.05 versus vehicle control rats at week 8 after immunization. ^g𝑃<0.05 versus 0.5 mg/per day C16 treated EAE rats at week 8 after immunization. (r) Late treated C16 treatment also lessened the loss of neurons to a certain extent. ^a𝑃<0.05 versus normal rats; ^b𝑃<0.05 versus vehicle control rats at week 2 postimmunization group; ^c𝑃<0.05 versus C16 treated EAE rats at week 2 postimmunization group; ^d𝑃<0.05 versus vehicle control rats at week 8 after immunization.

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