Fig. 2

The decrease of hippocampal DG dendritic spine density in stressed mice was abolished by IL-10 treatment. Male wild-type mice were subjected or not (NS) to the learned helplessness paradigm and separated into 2 groups: non-learned helpless (NLH) and learned helpless (LH) mice, according to their number of failures out of 30 escapable shock trials and were treated or not with vehicle (Veh.) or IL-10 (5 μg/mouse) 24 h and 1 h prior to sacrifice. a Representative images of dendritic spines on apical dendrites radiating from granule cells within the dentate gyrus (DG). b Dendritic spine density was calculated as an average per animal (# spines/μm) over 80 μm of total analyzed apical dendrite length (20 μm from the cell body) extending from granule cells within the molecular layer of the DG region of the dorsal hippocampus. Each dot represents a mouse. Two-way ANOVA F(2,33)_interaction = 14.33, F(1,33)_treatment = 26.32, F(2,33)_condition = 2.948, Bonferroni post hoc test, *p < 0.05, bars represent mean ± SEM, n = 5–8 mice/group