title: Castration attenuates myelin repair following lysolecithin induced demyelination in rat optic chiasm: an evaluation using visual evoked potential, marker genes expression and myelin staining.
abstract: Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a demyelinating disease that affects the central nervous system. MS is the most common neurological disorder in young adults with a greater incidence among females. Male gonadal hormones have a protective effect on neural system development and myelin maturation. In this study, we investigate the effect of castration on lysolecithin-induced demyelination and remyelination processes using visual evoked potentials, in addition to measuring the expressions of Olig2, MBP, Nogo-A and GFAP mRNAs as oligodendrocyte or astrocyte markers; and histological assessments by myelin-specific staining. We observed more expanded demyelination with delayed repair process in castrated rats. Expression levels of the aforementioned marker genes confirmed histological and electrophysiological observations. Our results showed a pivotal role for endogenous male hormones in the context of demyelinating insults. It may also account for the different prognosis of MS between male and female genders and provide new insights for therapeutic treatments.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Tarbiat Modares University, PO Box 14115-331, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Mohammad Amin
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Sherafat
authors.forename: Mohammad
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Javan
authors.forename: Sabah
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mozafari
authors.forename: Javad
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Mirnajafi-Zadeh
authors.forename: Fereshteh
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Motamedi
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000378:metabolism; D002369:Castration; D003711:Demyelinating Diseases / Q000139:chemically induced*; D005074:Evoked Potentials, Visual / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D015870:Gene Expression; D008244:Lysophosphatidylcholines / Q000494:pharmacology*; D008297:Male; D009103:Multiple Sclerosis / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D009186:Myelin Sheath / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology*; D009897:Optic Chiasm / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D008244:Lysophosphatidylcholines