Fig. 5

An HSD activates spinal microglia. a HSD feeding resulted in a significant increase in the number of Iba-1⁺ microglia in the lumbar spinal cord dorsal horn. b The expression of CD16/32 (FcγII/III receptor), an activation marker, was increased in the lumbar spinal cord of HSD fed mice. c Increased microglia density, as induced by HSD feeding, was maintained after returning the diet back to normal laboratory chow, n = 6–8/group. Scale bars: 50 μm. The outline indicates the area of interest (lamina I-III)) where microglia number was quantified. d A representative flow cytometry histogram showed the percentage of Ki67⁺ CD45⁺CD11b⁺ microglia in the lumbar spinal cord of HSD and ND mice. A quantitative analysis showed that an HSD did not trigger significant microglia proliferation, n = 6/group. Data were combined from male and female mice. All data was presented as mean ± SEM and analyzed with an unpaired t test, ***p < 0.001, ****p < 0.0001