Fig. 1
Time course of H2S content and CBS expression after ICH in rats. a Time course of H2S content in the brain striatum and blood plasma at different time points after ICH. H2S concentrations in the brain striatum and blood plasma were significantly decreased in ICH-treated rats compared with those in sham-operated rats at all post-ICH time points (p < 0.05 vs. sham) and reached a nadir at 1 and 2 days after ICH, respectively (p < 0.01 vs. sham). b Representative bands and quantitative analysis of the time course of CBS in perihaematomal brain tissues after ICH. CBS, a key enzyme involved in endogenous H2S synthesis, exhibited the same trend in its protein levels as H2S concentrations in the ipsilateral/right hemisphere after ICH. The relative densities of each protein have been normalized against those of the sham group. c Representative photographs of immunofluorescence staining for CBS (green) expression in microglia (Iba-1, red) in sham and the perihaematomal area, as the arrow indicates, at 1 day after ICH. CBS was colocalized with perihaematoma microglia in the ipsilateral striatum, as demonstrated by the presence of Iba1. d, e H2S content in the brain striatum and plasma at 1 day after ICH in the vehicle, SAM and NaHS groups. Both SAM administration and NaHS administration significantly increased H2S content in brain striatum (p < 0.05 vs. vehicle) and blood plasma (p < 0.05 vs. vehicle) at 1 day after ICH. These data also demonstrated that SAM and NaHS administration significantly increased endogenous and exogenous H2S content, respectively, at 1 day after ICH. f Quantitative analyses of haemorrhage volume in the vehicle, SAM and NaHS groups at 1 day after ICH. There was no significant difference in haemorrhage volume among the vehicle group, SAM group and NaHS group (p > 0.05 vs. vehicle). For haemorrhage volume, n = 5 rats per group; for others, n = 6 rats per group and time point. Scale bar = 12.5 μm. Data are presented as the mean ± SEM. *p < 0.05 vs. sham, **p < 0.01 vs. sham, #p < 0.05 vs. vehicle. CBS cystathionine-β-synthase, DAPI 4′,6-diamidino-2-phenylindole, GAPDH glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase, ICH intracerebral haemorrhage, SAM S-adenosyl-l-methionine