Fig. 3

Malva parviflora hydroalcoholic extract reduces amyloid plaque formation and astrogliosis in 5XFAD transgenic mice fed with high-fat diet. a (Left) Representative micrographs of amyloid plaques labeled with thioflavin S in the hippocampus of wild type (Wt) or 5XFAD mice fed with either normal diet (ND) or high-fat diet (HFD) non-treated (Vehicle) or treated with Malva parviflora hydroalcoholic extract (M. parviflora) for 8 months (scale bar 100 μm). (Right) Graph represents amyloid plaque loads in hippocampus of 5XFAD transgenic mice fed with normal diet (ND) or high-fat diet (HFD), treated with vehicle or M. parviflora extract. Data are shown as mean ± SEM, n = 4 animals per group. Statistical analysis was performed by three-way ANOVA followed by Tukey’s multiple comparisons test. This analysis revealed a significant effect for the genotype F(1,24) = 113.7, p < 0.001; for the diet F(1,24) = 7.781, p = 0.01; for the M. parviflora treatment F(1,24) = 39.54, p < 0.001; for the genotype and diet interaction F(1,24) = 7.781, p = 0.01; for the M. parviflora treatment and diet interaction F(1,24) = 3.03 p = 0.094; for the genotype and M. parviflora treatment interaction F(1,24) = 39.54 p < 0.001; and for the genotype, M. parviflora treatment, and diet interaction F(1,24) = 3.03, p = 0.094. b Astrogliosis was evaluated by immunofluorescence on hippocampal slides (dentate gyrus) from Wt and 5XFAD mice fed with high-fat diet (HFD) non-treated (vehicle) or treated with M. parviflora extract for 8 months. Astrocytes were imaged using the Olympus FluoView 1000 confocal multiphoton microscope (× 40, scale bar 30 μm). Lower row represents a × 2 digital magnification from boxed areas (scale bar 30 μm). Sketch indicates the analyzed area within the hippocampus