Study of the Effects of Ellagic Acid on Population and Activity of Central Nervous System Neuroglia Cells in the Cuprizone-induced Multiple Sclerosis

Ellagic acid (EA) is a natural antioxidant with phenolic structure. In this study, we evaluate the effects of EA consumption on population and activation of neuroglia cells in the animal model of MS under oxidative stress. Mature male mice with age of between 8 to 9 weeks were kept in the standard conditions. For model induction, animals received powder normal diet containing 0.2% Cuprizone (Cup) for six weeks. Mice were divided into eight groups containing control, control receiving three doses of EA (20, 40 and 80 mg/kg), Cup and Cup receiving three doses of EA. Finally, specific glial cell markers in the animal brain tissues were analyzed by molecular methods such as immunohistochemistry (IHC), western blotting (WB) and Real Time-PCR (RT-PCR). Findings: IHC and WB analysis have shown that only high concentration of EA is able to reduce protein expression of GFAP (activated astrocytes marker), Mac-3 (activated microglial marker), increase protein expression of Olig-2 (oligodendrocytes precursor marker) and ultimately significant reduction on APC (mature oligodendrocytes marker)/Olig-2 ratio in comparison with Cup group. In addition, RT-PCR evaluation indicated that changes in the mRNA expression of target markers were consistent with observed changes in their protein expression and therefore, IHC and WB results were confirmed. Consumption of 80 mg/kg of EA effectively decreased activation of astrocytes and microglial and so appropriates environment for migration of oligodendrocyte precursor cells to the lesion area and shifting from damage course into the repair progressions.