Fig. 4

Masitinib ameliorates microgliosis and motor neuron pathology. a Microglia marker Iba1 confocal images. Note the significant reduction of microglial cells in masitinib-treated rat spinal cords when compared with vehicle-treated ones. High magnification panels show a significant reduction in the number of microglial cells that surround motor neurons after masitinib chronic treatment (scale bars 50 μm low magnification and 20 μm high magnification). b Confocal image of ChAT in the lumbar spinal cord (dotted line) indicates the border between white and grey matter (scale bar 50 μm). The graph below to the left represents the quantitative analysis showing the number of motor neurons in the ventral horn in each condition. The graph to the right represents the quantitation of the motor neuron soma diameter showing the decreased diameter of surviving motor neurons in vehicle-treated rats and the protective effect of masitinib (insets in a) (scale bar 10 μm). All data are expressed as mean ± SEM *p < 0.01, **p < 0.01