Fig. 3

Increased astrogliosis in white matter of IUGR newborn piglets. a Representative images of astrocytes (GFAP) in the intragyral (a), subcortical (c) and periventricular (e) white matter regions in P4 NG and IUGR brains. Astrocytes in NG displayed long extended processes and small cell bodies, typical of ramified astrocytes (see NG bottom panels). Astrocytes in IUGR white matter displayed morphology characteristic of glia in activated states, with enlarged cell bodies and thickened processes (see IUGR bottom panels). Scale bar is 100 μm in low magnification images (top panels) and 20 μm in high magnification images (bottom panels). b, d, f Quantification of GFAP expression using densitometry showed an increase in GFAP expression in all white matter regions investigated at both P1 and P4 in IUGR when compared with age-matched NG brains. For b, d, f IUGR (P1 and P4 n = 6) and NG (P1 and P4 n = 6). Values are presented as mean ± SEM. Two-way ANOVA with Sidak post-hoc test, significance between IUGR and age-matched NG *p < 0.05; **p < 0.005; ***p < 0.001; ****p < 0.0001. IGWM intragyral white matter, SCWM subcortical white matter, PVWM periventricular white matter