VTN and optic neuritis: In order to address the reason for the increased recruitment of complement proteins to retinal synapses and for its activation during the early pre‐clinical stage of optic neuritis/EAE, we collected blood samples from MOG/CFA‐injected and CFA(control)‐injected mice (in the pre‐clinical phase, 7–9 days after immunization) and tested them in ELISA assays for the presence of auto‐reactive antibodies against retinal proteins.