Figure 4. The FMD cycles protect the spinal cord from loss of oligodendrocyte precursor cells and oligodendrocytes and enhances remyelination in the cuprizone model.

(At least 12 sections/ mouse were used for quantification; n=4; mean ± S.E.M, * p < 0.05, ** p<0.01; *** p < 0.001; 1-way ANOVA & Bonferroni Post Test).

a – c. Spinal cord sections isolated at Day 14 and quantification for (a) GST-π (mature oligodendrocyte) and BrdU, for (b) TUNEL and NG2 (oligodendrocyte precursor cells), and for (c) TUNEL and GST-π of the naive, EAE-CTRL or EAE-FMD.

f–h. Sections from the corpus callosum region and quantification of cuprizone treated brains, stained with Luxol Fast Blue of the naïve control, end of 5 weeks of cuprizone diet (week 0), cuprizone (5 weeks) + regular chow (2 weeks), cuprzione (5 weeks) + FMD cycle (2 weeks).

i–j. Section from the corpus callosum region and its quantification of the cuprizone treated brains stained with GST-π⁺ of cuprizone (5 weeks) + regular chow (2 weeks), cuprzione (5 weeks) + FMD (2 weeks). Quantification is normalized to % of the naïve GST-π⁺ level.

k–m. Change in the quality of life at 3 month of (k) overall quality of life, (l) change in health, (m) physical health composite, and (n) mental health composite. The dotted line represents a threshold that is thought to be clinically important (≥ 5 points) (mean ± SED; * p<0.05; Mann-Whitney-U test. Increase of ≥ 5 points are considered as clinically important).