Fig. 4

Baicalin reduced the CUMS-induced TLR4 expression and inflammatory response by activating PI3K/AKT. LY294002 was employed to abolish the effect of baicalin on PI3K/AKT in CUMS mice, and the mice were allocated into four groups: the control, CUMS, CUMS+BA60 and CUMS+LY+BA60. a The behavioral evaluation results including SPT, OPT, TST, and OPT (n = 12). b The Nissl staining results in the hippocampal CA1 region and the statistical analysis (b, first) and TLR4 immunohistochemistry staining in the hippocampal CA1 subregion and its statistical analysis (b, second) (scale bar 20 μm; n = 3 in each experiment). c The levels of IL-1β, IL-6, and TNF-α in the hippocampus were determined by ELISA kits (n = 8). d The western blotting results of p-PI3K, p-AKT, and TLR4 were quantified (n = 4). Data were normalized to the control and presented as means ± SEM. ^#p < 0.05, ^##p < 0.01, ^###p < 0.005 vs. control; *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01 vs. CUMS; ^&p < 0.05, ^&&p < 0.01 vs. CUMS+BA60. LY, LY294002; BA60, baicalin treatment with 60 mg/kg