Figure 5. Oral administration of ground cinnamon inhibits the expression of proinflammatory molecules and upregulates the expression of myelin genes in the spinal cord of chronic EAE in C57/BL6 mice.

C57BL/6 mice were immunized with 100 μg of MOG35–55, and from 8 dpi, mice were treated with either cinnamon or vehicle. On 20 dpi, spinal cord of normal, EAE, and either cinnamon- or vehicle-treated EAE mice were analyzed for mRNA expression of proinflammatory molecules ( iNOS and IL-1β) (A & B) and myelin-specific molecules (MOG, MBP and PLP) (C & D) by semi-quantitative RT-PCR (A & C) and quantitative real-time PCR (B & D). Data are expressed as the mean ± SEM of five different mice per group. ^a p< 0.001 vs normal; ^bp<0.001 vs EAE.