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Figure 7 | Journal of Neuroinflammation

Figure 7

From: Anti-inflammatory effect of simvastatin in an experimental model of spinal cord trauma: involvement of PPAR-α

Figure 7

Immunohistochemistry for Bax and Bcl-2. Spinal cord tissue were taken in order to determine the immunohistological staining for Bax and Bcl-2. Sections from sham PPAR-αWT mice did not stain for Bax (panel A a, d and g), whereas spinal cord tissue sections obtained from SCI-PPAR-αWT mice exhibited a positive staining for Bax (panel A b, g). The intensity of the positive staining for Bax was markedly increased in tissue section from injured-PPAR-αKO mice (panel A e, g). Spinal cord section from simvastatin-treated PPAR-αWT mice did not reveal any positive staining for Bax (panel A c, g). The genetic absence of the PPAR-α receptor significantly blocked the effect of the simvastatin on Bax expression (panel A f, g). In addition, spinal cord sections from sham-PPAR-αWT mice demonstrated Bcl-2 positive staining (panel B a, d and g), while in spinal cord tissue sections obtained from SCI-PPAR-αWT (panel B b, g) and from SCI-PPAR-α mice (panel B e, g), the staining for Bcl-2 were significantly reduced. The loss of positive staining for Bcl-2 was significant attenuated in the spinal cord from simvastatin-treated PPAR-αWT mice (panel B c, g). The genetic absence of the PPAR-α significantly blocked the effect of the simvastatin on the loss of Bcl-2 staining (panel B f, g). Data are expressed as % of total tissue area. This figure is representative of at least 3 experiments performed on different experimental days. *P < 0.01 vs. Sham; °P < 0.01 vs. SCI-WT group; °°P < 0.01 vs. simvastatin-treated WT group. ND: not detectable.

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