Focal experimental demyelination in monkey optic nerve by lysophosphatidylcholine.

The optic nerve of 2 adult male Macaca fuscata was exposed and lysophosphatidylcholine dissolved in saline at 2% was slowly injected into the nerve at about 5 mm posteriorly from the eyeball. This procedure produced a focal lesion of demyelinating plaque. Klüver-Barreras and Bodian stain for myelin and axon revealed demyelination with myelin ovoids and relatively well preserved axons in the focal plaque. It was thought that this lesion would be an experimental model of the demyelinating lesion of retrobulbar optic neuritis.