Fig. 2From: Azithromycin drives alternative macrophage activation and improves recovery and tissue sparing in contusion spinal cord injuryAZM treatment improves tissue sparing and recovery in SCI mice. Tissue sections representative of the mean values for vehicle- (a–c) and AZM- (d–f) treated animals at 28 dpi. a, d Inverted fluorescent images of GFAP-stained tissue sections of the lesion epicenter. b, e Adjacent sections stained with neurofilament (NF) indicate that areas of GFAP immunoreactivity correspond to areas of spared axons. c, f Higher powered confocal images of the rim of spared tissue reveal increased axon preservation with AZM treatment. g Quantification of tissue sparing at the lesion epicenter based upon GFAP immunoreactivity (*p = 0.01). h–i Functional recovery was assessed over a 28-day period using the Basso Mouse Scale (BMS). Mice treated with AZM recovered consistent stepping (BMS ~ 5) and coordination (BMS subscore ~4); vehicle-treated animals had some limb movement (BMS ~ 3) without coordination (BMS subscore = 0). j A significantly higher proportion of mice treated with AZM regained coordination of fore and hindlimbs compared to vehicle treated. *p < 0.05 vs. vehicle, **p < 0.01 vs. vehicle for each individual time point according to post hoc comparisons in response to the significant main treatment effect (p = 0.007). n = 8–10. Scale bar = 100 μm for a, b, d, e and 416 μm for c, f Back to article page