Fig. 3. Pharmacological inhibition of acid sphingomyelinase prevents histopathological changes of EAE. Amitriptyline treatment reduces inflammatory infiltration of the central nervous system. Experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) was induced by immunization with MOG_35-55 in CFA on day 0 and mice were treated with amitriptyline starting on day 1 after immunization. Mice were anesthetized, perfused, the brain and the spinal cord were removed, fixed, embedded, sectioned and immunostainings with CD45 antibody were performed. Shown are representative histological pictures of 5 untreated or amitriptyline treated C57BL/6 mice. Scale bar is 250 mm and 100mm, respectively.