CHANGES IN BRAIN AND SPINAL-CORD WATER-CONTENT DURING RECURRENT EXPERIMENTAL AUTOIMMUNE ENCEPHALOMYELITIS IN FEMALE LEWIS RATS

Regional changes in percent water content, a measure of regional level s of edema, were determined in female Lewis rats during key stages of recurrent experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (rEAE). The change s in percent water content of the spinal cord and brainstem closely pa ralleled the clinical and, to a lesser extent, histological course of rEAE (increasing during exacerbations and decreasing during remissions ), whereas the percent water content of the forebrain, thalamus/midbra in, hypothalamus, and cerebellum remained constant and equal to contro l levels at all stages of the disease process. These results suggest t hat edema formation and resolution in the brainstem and spinal cord ma y be significant determinants of the transient and recurrent course of neurological dysfunction exhibited by rats with rEAE.