Fig. 7

Stimulatory effects of intrathecal injection of bullatine A on dynorphin A immunofluorescence staining in the ipsilateral spinal dorsal horn of neuropathic rats. Peripheral neuropathy was induced by unilateral L5–L6 spinal nerve ligation for 2 weeks, and frozen sections were obtained 1 h after intrathecal saline (10 μL) or bullatine A (10 μg) treatment. Immunofluorescence was labeled with the dynorphin A antibody (a, b), microglial marker Iba-1 (d, e), astrocytic marker GFAP (g, h), and neuronal marker NeuN (j, k). Photomicrographs were taken from the ipsilateral spinal cords. The immunolabeled surface areas for dynorphin A (c), Iba-1 (f), GFAP (i), and NeuN (l) were quantified from the spinal dorsal horn (laminae I–V) using the ImageJ computer program. Data are expressed as mean ± SEM (n = 6 in each group). Symbol a denotes statistical difference from the spinal cord group treated with saline (P < 0.05 by unpaired and two-tailed Student t test). Scale bars: 250 μm