Figure 2

Brain inflammation develops secondary to osteoarthritis. (A) Col1-IL1β^XAT transgenic mice injected with FIV(gfp) in their joints presented baseline levels of GFAP expression. (B) Col1-IL1β^XAT transgenic mice injected with FIV(Cre) in their joints developed increased levels of GFAP expression as evaluated by immunohistochemistry. Similarly, (C) Col1-IL1β^XAT transgenic mice injected with FIV(gfp) lacked MHC-II staining in their brain, whereas (D) transgenic mice injected with FIV(Cre) in their joints displayed increased levels of MHC-II expression as evaluated by immunohistochemistry. The GFAP and MHC-II images were obtained from hypothalamic areas. (E) GFAP and MHC-II immunoreactive cells were counted at 2 and 6 months following FIV(gfp) (control) or FIV(Cre) injection in Col1-IL1β^XAT transgenic mice. A total of 19 mice was employed in this experiment. (F) Transcript levels for neuroinflammatory genes at 4 months of age were evaluated by real-time qRT-PCR in Col1-IL1β^XAT transgenic mice injected at 2 months of age with FIV(gfp), FIV(Cre) or saline. A total of 32 mice was employed in this study. ***p < 0.001; Bar = 50 μm. Mean ± SEM shown.