Prazosin suppresses development of axonal damage in rats inoculated for experimental allergic encephalomyelitis

The effectiveness of the alpha 1-adrenergic antagonist prazosin for preventing monoaminergic axonal damage in the spinal cords of rats that were inoculated for experimental allergic encephalomyelitis (EAE) was assessed using immunohistochemistry. Prazosin injections (2 mg, i.p.) given twice daily from day 7 to day 15 postinoculation significantly reduced paralysis, spinal cord inflammation and monoaminergic axonal damage compared to saline injections. A close positive correlation between severity of inflammation and severity of axonal damage was found for both prazosin- and saline-treated rats that were inoculated for EAE. These findings confirmed previous observations of suppression of the development of clinical signs of EAE by prazosin treatment and supported the hypothesis that some factor associated with spinal cord inflammation may be responsible for the bulbospinal monoaminergic axonal damage that occurs during EAE.