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Updated: May 10, 2026
Visual Evoked Potential Recording in a Rat Model of Experimental Optic Nerve Demyelination
Published on: July 29, 2015
GEMSP exerts a myelin-protecting role in the rat optic nerve
Arturo Mangas1, Elena Vecino, F David Rodríguez
1Laboratory of Neuroanatomy of the Peptidergic Systems (Lab. 14), Salamanca, Spain.
Objectives:
Chronic experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) was induced in rats to evaluate the potential protective effect of GEMSP, a mixture made up of fatty acids (FA), vitamins, and amino acids or their derivatives, linked to Poly-L-Lysine, on the myelin sheath of the optic nerve.
Methods:
To evaluate the effects of GEMSP on the optic nerve, animals were divided into three experimental groups: (1) EAE rats treated with GEMSP; (2) EAE rats treated with 0.9% NaCl; and (3) control, non-EAE rats. Using electron microscopy, we investigated the possibility that this new drug candidate has a myelin-protective role.
Results:
A marginally significant reduction in the thickness of the myelin around optic nerve medium-size axons (diameter between 0.8-1.3 μm) was found in EAE rats. Treatment of EAE rats with GEMSP ameliorated myelin damage. Significantly increased myelin thickness was found when animals in groups 2 and 3 were compared. However, the number of myelinated axons studied was not altered in groups 1 or 2 when compared to controls.
Discussion:
Our results suggest that in a model of demyelination, GEMSP protects and enhances the formation of the myelin sheath of the optic nerve and therefore could be a potential drug candidate to reduce optic nerve pathogenesis in multiple sclerosis (MS).
