This project seeks to determine the role of oxidative stress in demyelination and test a hypothesis that lipid peroxidation and reactive oxygen intermediates are involved in the pathogenesis of demyelinating diseases. During FY 1989, studies included the electrolyte-induced myelinolysis model in the rat and cuprizone-induced demyelination in the mouse. Earlier studies showed selective myelin damage occurred in lesions of the striatum, thalamus, mesencephalon, and posterior limb of the internal capsule in oxygen treated gerbils after global brain ischemia. Mongolian gerbils similarly treated demonstrated increased lipid peroxidation and increased fourteen day cumulative mortality.
