Fig. 1

High-salt diet does not affect microglial activation in MSA mice. a Relative gene expression (mRNA levels) of the microglial activation marker Cd68 in different brain regions. The data is expressed in fold change relative to WT mice fed with a normal diet. b Representative immunofluorescence (IF) images of the substantia nigra (SN) sections stained against CD68 (in red). Scale bar, 150 μm. c CD68 positive (CD68+) area in different brain regions (STR: striatum; SN; CBWM: cerebellar white matter; PN: Pontine nuclei) determined by ImageJ analysis and expressed as the % of the total area. d, Relative gene expression of the microglial activation marker Iba1 in different brain regions. The data is expressed in fold change relative to WT mice fed with a normal diet. e Representative IF images of SN sections stained against IBA1 (in green). Scale bar, 150 μm. f IBA1 positive (IBA1+) area in different brain regions. WT, wildtype healthy control animals; TG, PLP-hαSyn mice. White bars: WT mice; gray bars: WT mice fed with HSD (TG + HSD); black bars: TG mice; red bars: TG mice fed with HSD (TG + HSD). Error bars indicate SEM. Two-way ANOVA: *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001, ****p < 0.0001 (Bonferroni’s test)