Fig. 4

Cytokines and growth factors in mixed neuron/glia culture after OGD, brain and plasma after MCAO with or without MMF/DMF pretreatment. Cultures were processed for RT-qPCR and analyzed for cytokine mRNA levels 24 h after OGD (a). The side of the brain ipsilateral to MCAO was isolated 72 h, 7 days, and 14 days after surgery for RT-qPCR and analyzed for cytokine and growth factor mRNA levels (b, n = 4 of each group). In animals treated as in b, blood levels of factors were measured by multiplex array (see the “Methods” section) in normal uninjured brain or in MCAO rats after 72 h or 7 days of vehicle or 50 mg/kg DMF treatment; protein levels were expressed as pg/ml (c, n = 3–4 per group). All values were compared to normal uninjured control brain. *p < 0.05; **p < 0.01, Mann-Whitney U test