Fig. 5

Dendrimer-NAC treatment ameliorated the microglial activation in the cerebellar white matter areas of CP kits on PND5. Brain slices were stained with IBA1 antibody (microglial marker) and images (× 40) were randomly acquired from the white matter areas from healthy controls and endotoxin kits treated with PBS, NAC (2 mg/kg), and G6D-NAC (2 mg/kg). a Representative microglia images. The arrows indicate the microglia that correspond to the Neurolucida tracing images. b–d Microglial morphological analysis. The microglia in the endotoxin PBS and NAC2 groups had significantly increased area of the soma (b) and significant decreased mean length (c) and mean node (d) of the processes, compared to the healthy control kits. The microglial morphology, including the area of soma and the length and nodes of processes in the D-NAC2 group, were similar to those of healthy controls. e The TNF-α mRNA expression significantly increased in the endotoxin PBS group. Compared with that in the NAC2 group, the TNF-α mRNA expression significantly decreased in the D-NAC2 group and reached a similar level as in that of healthy controls. There was no significant change in mRNA expression of IL-1β (f), IL-10 (g), TGF-β1 (h), and TSPO (i). *p < 0.05, ***p < 0.001, compared with healthy controls. ns no significance