Fig. 1

In vivo NHP infection with B. burgdorferi increases NK-1R expression in the CNS, and such increases are prevented by treatment with the NK-1R antagonist aprepitant. Rhesus macaques were uninfected (n = 2 animals) or infected intrathecally with B. burgdorferi (Bb, 1 × 10⁸ bacteria; n = 8), and infected animals were either untreated (n = 4) or treated with aprepitant (n = 4) for 2 or 4 weeks prior to euthanasia. Expression of mRNA encoding NK-1R in frontal cortical tissue samples was determined by RT-PCR (a) and relative expression normalized to GAPDH levels was determined by densitometric analysis (b). NK-1R protein expression was determined in tissue samples by immunoblot analysis and normalized to β-actin expression (c). Data is expressed as the mean ± SD. Asterisk and pound symbols indicate statistically significant difference from uninfected animals and untreated infected animals, respectively (p < 0.05)