Fig. 7

Inflammatory response in CCL3^−/− mice is reduced after SCI. a Representative images of Ly-6B.2-positive neutrophils in wild-type and CCL3^–/– SCI tissue at the lesion epicenter at day 1 after injury. Scale bar = 100 μm. Arrows indicate Ly-6B.2-positive profiles. b Quantitative analysis of neutrophil recruitment shows a significant reduction of neutrophils at the lesion epicenter of CCL3^–/– mice. n = 3/group. * = p value < 0.05. c Expression levels of the pro-inflammatory cytokines il-1b, il-6, tnf, inos, and the apoptotic marker bax were significantly increased at different time points in wild-type mice compared to laminectomy controls. CCL3^–/– mice, however, showed significantly lower expression levels compared to wild-type. Arginase-1 and TGFb, which can indicate anti-inflammatory properties, were significantly upregulated in CCL3^–/– mice in relation to wild-type mice. IL-10 was upregulated compared to the laminectomy control but did not differ between genotypes. n = 6 wild-type, 5 CCL3^–/– mice. + = p value < 0.05, ++ = p value < 0.01, +++ = p value < 0.001 (wild-type compared to laminectomy control), * < p value 0.05, *** < p value 0.0001 (CCL3^–/– compared to wild-type, same day)