Figure 4.

Evaluation of the effect of argan oil on 7-ketocholesterol-induced acidic vesicle formation in 158N murine oligodendrocytes by flow cytometry after staining with acridine orange. After 24 h of culture, 158N murine oligodendrocytes were cultured for an additional 24 h without or with 7KC (25 µM) in the absence or presence of argan oils (Agadir or Berkane; Morocco; 0.1% v/v) or of α-tocopherol (400 µM) used as the positive control. Argan oils and α-tocopherol were added to the culture medium 2 h before 7KC. The cytoprotective effect of argan oils on 7KC-induced acidic vesicle formation was evaluated by flow cytometry after staining with acridine orange (AO). Acidic vesicle formation was determined by the percentage of AO-positive cells. The experiments were carried out twice in triplicate. Data are mean ± SD of two independent experiments carried out in triplicate. The significance of the relationship between vehicle and cells treated with 7KC, argan oils or α-tocopherol was calculated by the Anova test (Sidak’s multiple comparisons); * p ≤ 0.05. The significance of the relationship between cells treated with 7KC alone, 7KC and argan oils cotreatment, or 7KC and α-tocopherol cotreatment was calculated by the Anova test (Sidak’s multiple comparisons); ^# p ≤ 0.05. No significant difference was detected between control and vehicle-treated cells (EtOH 0.95% v/v).