Fig. 2

Effect of MC1R activation on brain infarct area, body weight, and short-term neurological function at 48 h post-HI. a, b TTC staining showed that medium (160 μg/kg) and high (500 μg/kg) doses of BMS-470539 treatment significantly reduced brain infarct area compared to the vehicle. c Rats in the vehicle group showed to lose significant weight compared to the sham group, medium (160 μg/kg) and high (500 μg/kg) doses of BMS-470539 treatment groups. d Geotaxis reflex showed that medium (160 μg/kg) and high (500 μg/kg) doses of BMS-470539 significantly improved neurological function compared to the vehicle group. Data were represented as mean ± SD. *p < 0.05 versus sham, ^#p < 0.05 versus vehicle, ^@p < 0.05 versus BMS-470539 (50 μg/kg). n = 6 per group