Multiple Sclerosis
See Table of Stains appropriate for MS
Overview
The pathological features of Multiple Sclerosis (MS) that are most often studied through neurohistology include de-myelination, axonal degeneration and inflammation involving an immune reaction including high cellularity around vessels. NSA has processed both human and animal model brains and spinal cords in support of MS research.
Rodent Spinal Cords: Spinal cord tissue of animal models is commonly used in MS research. There are several approaches NSA employs in processing spinal cord tissue.
40 Rodent Cords
Transverse/Coronal
Up to 40 spinal cords are co-embedded and appear
on each MultiBrain® slide section.
8 Rodent Cords
Transverse/Longitudinal
Up to 8 spinal cords are co-embedded and appear
on each MultiBrain® slide section.
Rodent Brains:

Solochrome stain for normal myelin (blue) paired with an antibody specific for degenerative myelin basic protein (black).
25 Mouse Brains Coronal Up to 25 mouse brains are 16 Rat Brains Coronal Up to 16 rat brains are 40 Mouse or 32 rat Brain Hemispheres Coronal Up to 40 mouse brains are
co-embedded and appear on each
MultiBrain® slide section.
co-embedded and appear on each
MultiBrain® slide section.
co-embedded and appear on each
MultiBrain® slide section.
Human tissue:
NSA processes large format sections, as seen below, providing a unique opportunity to assess large contiguous cross-sections of tissue. NSA also processes multiple smaller samples from one or more brains using MultiBrain® Technology. The standard NSA practice of encasing the brain tissue in gelatin provides a significant aid in the handling of tissue sections, resulting in an improved final product.
Human Brain Hemisphere
Multiple-Embedded Human Brain Tissue
De-myelination
A variety of methods can be used to reveal myelin, which effectively exposes areas of de-myelination. The most common techniques employed by NSA include the Weil-myelin method and Solochrome method.

Thalamus
Solochrome
Cingulate
Weil-Myelin
Inflammation
As with other disease models, inflammation markers such as Iba1 and GFAP can be useful indicators of perturbations in conjuction with other MS pathology, as seen below.
Axonal Degeneration
MS Monkey Spinal Cord: Adjacent Stained Sections
Myelin Stain
Weil-Method
Neurodegeneration Stain
Amino-Cupric Silver
Degenerated axons (black) are visible in the
upper right, but are not in the same location
in the myelin-stained image to the left.
Longitudinal section (from the same cord shown above) that clearly reveals the
degenerating pattern of axons. These images suggest that axon degeneration may
precede the loss of myelin.
Lesions and Cuffing
The presence of high cellularity around vessels that is a characteristic of MS pathology is often called cuffing, as seen around the large vessels in these adjacent sections.
ACUTE
Myelin stain:
Weil Method
CHRONIC
Nissl stain:
Thionine
Ferric iron:
Perls-DAB Nissl
Counterstain
Different stains provide different perspectives into the architecture of the MS lesions. For example, the margin of the plaque in the chronic plaque contains cells (microglia) rich in iron, while the corresponding zone in the acute plaques does not.
If you would like further information about how NSA can assist you with your research, please contact us or refer to our catalog.