TY - JOUR
T1 - Quantitation of spinal cord demyelination, remyelination, atrophy, and axonal loss in a model of progressive neurologic injury
AU - McGavern, Dorian B.
AU - Murray, Paul D.
AU - Rodriguez, Moses
PY - 1999/11/15
Y1 - 1999/11/15
N2 - Spinal cord pathology, such as demyelination and axonal loss, is a common feature in multiple models of central nervous system (CNS) injury and disease. Development of methods to quantify spinal cord pathology objectively would aid studies designed to establish mechanisms of damage, correlate pathology with neurologic function, and assess therapeutic interventions. In this study, we describe sensitive methods to objectively quantify spinal cord demyelination, remyelination, atrophy, and axonal loss following the initiation of a progressive inflammatory demyelinating disease with Theiler's murine encephalomyelitis virus (TMEV). Spinal cord demyelination, remyelination, and atrophy were quantified from representative 1-μ-thick cross sections embedded in Araldite plastic using interactive image analysis. In addition, this study demonstrates novel, automated methodology to quantify axonal loss from areas of normal-appearing white matter, as a measure of secondary axonal injury following demyelination. These morphologic methods, which are applicable to various models of CNS injury, provide an innovative way to assess the benefits of therapeutic agents, to determine mechanisms of spinal cord damage, or to establish a correlation with sensitive measures of neurologic function.
AB - Spinal cord pathology, such as demyelination and axonal loss, is a common feature in multiple models of central nervous system (CNS) injury and disease. Development of methods to quantify spinal cord pathology objectively would aid studies designed to establish mechanisms of damage, correlate pathology with neurologic function, and assess therapeutic interventions. In this study, we describe sensitive methods to objectively quantify spinal cord demyelination, remyelination, atrophy, and axonal loss following the initiation of a progressive inflammatory demyelinating disease with Theiler's murine encephalomyelitis virus (TMEV). Spinal cord demyelination, remyelination, and atrophy were quantified from representative 1-μ-thick cross sections embedded in Araldite plastic using interactive image analysis. In addition, this study demonstrates novel, automated methodology to quantify axonal loss from areas of normal-appearing white matter, as a measure of secondary axonal injury following demyelination. These morphologic methods, which are applicable to various models of CNS injury, provide an innovative way to assess the benefits of therapeutic agents, to determine mechanisms of spinal cord damage, or to establish a correlation with sensitive measures of neurologic function.
KW - Morphology
KW - Multiple sclerosis
KW - Myelin diseases
KW - Neuropathology
KW - Theiler's virus
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U2 - 10.1002/(SICI)1097-4547(19991115)58:4<492::AID-JNR3>3.0.CO;2-P
DO - 10.1002/(SICI)1097-4547(19991115)58:4<492::AID-JNR3>3.0.CO;2-P
M3 - Article
C2 - 10533042
AN - SCOPUS:0033571378
SN - 0360-4012
VL - 58
SP - 492
EP - 504
JO - Journal of Neuroscience Research
JF - Journal of Neuroscience Research
IS - 4
ER -