Fig. 4
Astrocyte analysis in the pilocarpine-induced SE model. a GFAP+ cells (arrows) were detected in the hippocampus of all experimental groups. SE group presented profuse reactive astrogliosis (arrowheads) compared to the controls and SE+Ac2-26 groups. Counterstain, Haematoxylin. Bars, 50 μm. b Quantification of GFAP+ cells in the CA1 (anterior and posterior) and CA3 regions, right and left sides. Dot plots represent GFAP+ cells/mm2 (n = 6 animals/group). ###P < 0.001 vs. Naive; ***P < 0.001 vs. SHAM (Kruskal-Wallis, Dunn post-test). c Western blot analysis to measure GFAP (~ 50–55 kDa) in the pooled extracts of rat hippocampus (n = 3 animals/group) from all experimental groups. GAPDH was used as a protein loading control. Immunoreactive bands for GFAP were semi-quantified by densitometry and are expressed as arbitrary units (a.u.) of the ratio of GFAP/GAPDH (data represent one illustrative blot from four independent experiments). ##P < 0.01 vs. Naive; *P < 0.001 vs. Sham (ANOVA, Bonferroni post-test)