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Fig. 2 | Journal of Neuroinflammation

Fig. 2

From: Azithromycin drives alternative macrophage activation and improves recovery and tissue sparing in contusion spinal cord injury

Fig. 2

AZM treatment improves tissue sparing and recovery in SCI mice. Tissue sections representative of the mean values for vehicle- (a–c) and AZM- (d–f) treated animals at 28 dpi. a, d Inverted fluorescent images of GFAP-stained tissue sections of the lesion epicenter. b, e Adjacent sections stained with neurofilament (NF) indicate that areas of GFAP immunoreactivity correspond to areas of spared axons. c, f Higher powered confocal images of the rim of spared tissue reveal increased axon preservation with AZM treatment. g Quantification of tissue sparing at the lesion epicenter based upon GFAP immunoreactivity (*p = 0.01). h–i Functional recovery was assessed over a 28-day period using the Basso Mouse Scale (BMS). Mice treated with AZM recovered consistent stepping (BMS ~ 5) and coordination (BMS subscore ~4); vehicle-treated animals had some limb movement (BMS ~ 3) without coordination (BMS subscore = 0). j A significantly higher proportion of mice treated with AZM regained coordination of fore and hindlimbs compared to vehicle treated. *p < 0.05 vs. vehicle, **p < 0.01 vs. vehicle for each individual time point according to post hoc comparisons in response to the significant main treatment effect (p = 0.007). n = 8–10. Scale bar = 100 μm for a, b, d, e and 416 μm for c, f

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