Fig. 4

Cromolyn inhibited surgery-induced MAPK activation and cytokine secretion in the hippocampus. a The activated levels of ERK and JNK in the area CA1 of the hippocampus, which was assessed by increased phosphorylation of tyrosine residues of these kinases, were detected by Western blotting using specific antibodies. Each blot is representative of three experiments. b Phosphorylated levels of ERK and JNK were quantified and normalized to total levels. Each value was then expressed relative to the control, which was set to 1. c–d The levels of proinflammatory factors TNF-α and IL-6 were detected by ELISA. ^* P < 0.05, ^** P < 0.01 vs. control group. ^# P < 0.05, ^## P < 0.01 vs. surgery group. Data are presented as the mean ± SD (n = 5)