Figure 4

Increased microglial reactivity induced by maternal obesity is ameliorated by dietary switch during lactation. (A) Brain microglial Iba1 mRNA levels from male or female offspring of CD/CD, HFD/HFD, CD/HFD and HFD/CD dams were examined at six weeks of age by quantitative RT-PCR with values depicted as mean ± SEM. N = 4 to 7 for males, N = 5 to 12 per condition for females as indicated in the graph (one-way ANOVA with post-hoc Tukey analysis, CD/CD versus HFD/HFD *P = 0.019, HFD/HFD versus HFD/CD *P = 0.0187. (B-D) Immunohistochemistry for microglial Iba1 reactivity was conducted on 50-μm amygdala brain sections. (B) Iba1 protein was analyzed by densitometry in males and females (N = 3 to 4 per condition as indicated in bars; one-way ANOVA with post-hoc Tukey analysis, female CD/CD versus HFD/HFD *P = 0.0394, HFD/HFD versus HFD/CD *P = 0.0119). Representative Iba1 staining from (C) male and (D) female offspring. Scale bars = 25 μm. Abbreviations: CD, control diet; HFD, high fat diet; P, postnatal day.