M2 macrophages treatment attenuates clinical severity in EAN
On the 8th day after cultures of M2 macrophages induced by M-CSF and IL-4 in vitro, we evaluated the proportions of macrophages and M2 macrophages by flow cytometric analysis. The proportions of macrophages and M2 macrophages were identified as 98.48% ± 0.189% and 94.60% ± 1.407%, respectively (Figure 2a).
M2 macrophages were administered by the caudal vein from days 8 to day 14 p.i. (0.1 ml, 1 × 106 cells, once two days) to treated EAN mice. Our results showed that that the clinical scores of EAN were significantly light in M2 macrophages-treated group from days 8 to day 20 p.i. compared to the control EAN group (p﹤0.05 on each time point) (Figure 2b). Additionally, the duration of symptoms was markedly shorter in M2 macrophages treated group than the control group received PBS.