Alkyl-Glycerol Rescues Plasmalogen Levels and Pathology of Ether-Phospholipid Deficient Mice
Figure 1
Therapeutic effects of AG diet on rescuing the pathology caused by plasmalogen deficiency.
(A) Testis sections stained with hematoxylin and eosin (H&E). Seminiferous tubules from control-fed Pex7 KO mice have no spermatocytes and display a Sertoli-only phenotype, whereas seminiferous tubules from AG-fed Pex7 KO mice display a stratified epithelium with spermatocytes at different stages of maturation. Bars are 10 µm. (B) Harderian gland sections stained with H&E. After AG diet, Harderian glands from Pex7 KO mice showed a restoration in morphology that included the appearance of small lipid inclusions (arrowheads) and increased size of glandular cells. Bars are 10 µm. (C) White adipose tissue sections stained with H&E. Degenerated adipocytes with small-sized fat inclusions are characteristic features found in Pex7 KO mice. After AG diet, adipocytes from Pex7 KO mice displayed normal size and fat content. Bars are 25 µm. (D) Brown adipose tissue sections stained with H&E. Adipocytes from control-fed Pex7 KO mice showed, in contrast to WT, an increased number of small fat inclusions within the cytoplasm of adipose cells. AG-diet restored the histology of adipocytes in brown adipose tissue of Pex7 KO mice. Bars are 10 µm. Numbers of mice analyzed from two independent cohorts: on control diet WT mice n = 4 and Pex7 KO mice n = 3, on AG diet WT mice n = 6 and Pex7 KO mice n = 6.