Abstract
Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic inflammatory and demyelinating disorder affecting the central nervous system. Evidence suggests that age-related neurodegeneration contributes to disability progression during the chronic stages of MS. Aging is characterized by decreased regeneration potential and impaired myelin repair in the brain. It is hypothesized that accelerated cellular aging contributes to the functional decline associated with neurodegenerative diseases. We assessed the impact of aging on myelin content in the corpus callosum (CC) and compared aging with the long-term demyelination (LTD) consequents induced by 12 weeks of feeding with a cuprizone (CPZ) diet. Initially, evaluating myelin content in 2-, 6-, and 18-month-old mice revealed a reduction in myelin content, particularly at 18 months. Myelin thickness was decreased and the g-ratio increased in aged mice. Although a lower myelin content and higher g-ratio were observed in LTD model mice, compared to the normally aged mice, both aging and LTD exhibited relatively similar myelin ultrastructure. Our findings provide evidence that LTD exhibits the hallmarks of aging such as elevated expression of senescence-associated genes, mitochondrial dysfunction, and high level of oxidative stress as observed following normal aging. We also investigated the senescence-associated β-galactosidase activity in O4+ late oligodendrocyte progenitor cells (OPCs). The senescent O4+/β-galactosidase+ cells were elevated in the CPZ diet. Our data showed that the myelin degeneration in CC occurs throughout the lifespan, and LTD induced by CPZ accelerates the aging process which may explain the impairment of myelin repair in patients with progressive MS.