Fig. 1

Systemic inflammation and neuroinflammation in CIA rats. a Plasma concentrations of IL-1β, IL-6, and TNF-α quantified by ELISA. b mRNA levels of IL-1β, IL-6, and TNF-α in the cortex and the hippocampus of CIA rats and controls. c Protein level of IL-1β in the cortex and the hippocampus quantified by ELISA. d Representative images of immunofluorescence of Iba-1 positive microglia in the cortex and the hippocampus of CIA rats and controls. The percentage of four morphological scores of microglia in the cortex and the hippocampus was quantified. e Representative images and the quantitative results of Gfap immunostaining in the cortex and the hippocampus of CIA rats and controls. The data are given as the mean ± SEM of 4-6 animals. *P < 0.05 compared with controls