Fig. 3

EMD mice showed exacerbated cortical and hippocampal inflammation. a Higher expression of Iba-1 was observed in both cerebral cortex and hippocampus in EMD mice compared to control mice. Scalebar = 20 μm. b Quantitative analysis of the number of Iba-1 stained cells was performed in both brain areas. c Higher expression of GFAP was observed in both cerebral cortex and hippocampus in EMD mice compared to control mice. Scalebar = 20 μm. d Quantitative analysis of the percentage area covered by GFAP immunoreactivity was performed in both brain areas. Data are given as mean ± SEM. e mRNA cytokine expression was analyzed. Higher mRNA expression of interleukin (Il)-1β, Il-6, and tumor necrosis factor (TNF-α) were observed in cerebral cortex and hippocampus in EMD mice compared to control mice. Neurogenesis impairment due to increased inflammation is reflected in Additional file 1: Fig. S1. f Confocal images showing pSTAT3 (green) and NeuN (red) staining in EMD and control mice. Scalebar = 20 μm. g Quantization of pSTAT3⁺ neurons was performed in cerebral cortex in EMD and control mice. h Unchanged mRNA STAT3 expression was observed in both cerebral cortex and hippocampus in EMD mice compared to control mice. i mRNA SOCS3 expression was analyzed in both cerebral cortex and hippocampus in EMD mice compared to control mice. Diminished mRNA expression of SOCS3 was observed in both brain areas. j Higher mRNA expression of NPY was found in cerebral cortex from EMD mice compared to control mice. k Protein levels of leptin were lower in EMD compared to control mice. Data are given as mean ± SEM. Cx cerebral cortex, Hip hippocampus. Data are presented as mean ± SEM. *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01; Student’s t test.