Fig. 3

hIgG (2 g/kg) effects on the spinal cord neurovasculature 24 h after injury. a At 24 h post-SCI, active-MMP-9 and β-actin (loading control) levels in the rat spinal cord were determined by western blot. A representative image of the blot is shown. b Similarly, at 24 h post-SCI, ZO-1, occludin, and β-actin (loading control) levels in the rat spinal cord were determined by western blot. A representative image of the blot is shown. c Densitometric analysis of the signal ratio between active MMP-9 and β-actin indicated that administration of high-dose hIgG (2 g/kg) at 15 min post-SCI significantly decreased active MMP-9 expression (red arrow) relative to both control buffer and low-dose hIgG (0.4 g/kg). d, e Densitometric analysis of the signal ratio between occludin, ZO-1, and β-actin indicated that administration of high-dose hIgG (2 g/kg) at 15 min post-SCI significantly increased occludin and ZO-1 relative to both the control buffer and hIgG (0.4 g/kg). f, g There are significant negative correlations in protein expression of occludin and MMP-9 expression, as well as ZO-1 and MMP-9 expression. h Representative images of Power Doppler imaging for animals treated with control buffer, hIgG (0.4 g/kg), and hIgG (2 g/kg) are shown. i At 24 h post-SCI, functional blood flow was analyzed by Power Doppler imaging. The data presented are normalized to time-matched shams. hIgG (2 g/kg) significantly increased the functional blood flow relative to the control buffer and hIgG (0.4 g/kg). One-way ANOVA, Tukey’s post-hoc test (*p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001, ****p < 0.0001). Data are presented as mean ± SEM values