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Figure 4 | Journal of Neuroinflammation

Figure 4

From: Enhanced neuroinflammation and pain hypersensitivity after peripheral nerve injury in rats expressing mutated superoxide dismutase 1

Figure 4

GFAP protein up-regulation is attenuated in hSOD1 G93A rats at 21 days after PSNL. (A-D) Immunohistological staining of the astroglial marker GFAP at 21 days after surgery, on the ipsilateral side of the lumbar spinal cord with a low and high magnification. (A,B) Astrocytes in the ipsilateral dorsal horn of WT (A) or transgenic (B) rats after sham operation showed a typical star-shaped morphology. At 21 days after PSNL, WT rats showed a strong astroglial response, characterized by cell hypertrophy and increased GFAP staining (C). In transgenic rats, this astroglial response was clearly attenuated (D) (scale bar represents 500 μm). (E,F) Quantification of the percentage of the total dorsal horn showing positive GFAP immunostaining. GFAP protein up-regulation was validated on the ipsilateral side (E) only for WT ligated rats, while transgenic rats showed a modest but non-significant increase in GFAP expression after PSNL. The contralateral side (F) did not show any statistical changes in GFAP area fraction. (G) The percentage of change in PWL from baseline on post-operative day 21 did not correlate with the level of GFAP up-regulation (R2 = 0.02). WT groups included 4 rats whereas hSOD1G93A groups included 6 rats; ANOVA and Tukey post-hoc test for statistical analyses.

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