Fig. 1.
IL-13 post-treatment improves long-term stroke outcomes and enhances structural white matter integrity. A Experimental design. B Sensorimotor function was assessed by the corner test Ba and the rotarod test Bb up to 35d after tMCAO or sham operation. n = 6 mice for Sham + Veh and Sham + IL-13; n = 11 mice for tMCAO + Veh; n = 12 mice for tMCAO + IL-13. #tMCAO + Veh vs. Sham + Veh, *tMCAO + Veh vs. tMCAO + IL-13. C Double-immunostaining for MBP and SMI32 35d after tMCAO or sham operation. Ca illustrates where images in b, c were taken from. Cb, c Representative images of MBP (green) and SMI32 (red) immunostaining in the STR and EC. Scale bar: 50 µm. Cd Quantification of the MBP fluorescence intensity and the ratio of SMI32 to MBP immunofluorescence intensity in the ipsilateral STR. n = 5/group. Ce Quantification of the MBP fluorescence intensity and the ratio of SMI32 to MBP immunofluorescence intensity in ipsilateral EC. n = 4–5/group. D The EC areas were measured based on MBP-stained brain slices 35d after tMCAO. Da Representative images of MBP (green) immunostaining in the corpus callosum (CC). Db illustrates where images in a were taken from. Dc Quantification of the MBP+ area in ipsilateral CC n = 4–5/group. E Pearson correlation between the animals’ performance and various parameters representing white mater integrity 35 d after tMCAO. Dashed lines: 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Black, blue, red, and green dots represent the Sham + Veh, Sham + IL-13, tMCAO + Veh and tMCAO + IL-13 group, respectively n = 3–5/group. All data are presented as the mean ± SEM. *p ≤ 0.05, **p ≤ 0.01, ***p ≤ 0.001 tMCAO + Veh vs. tMCAO + IL-13 or as indicated, # p < 0.05, ## p < 0.01, ### p < 0.001 tMCAO + Veh vs Sham + Veh. One-way ANOVA followed by Bonferroni’s post hoc (A, Cd, e), two-way ANOVA followed by Bonferroni’s post hoc (B), unpaired Student’s t-test (Dc), Pearson correlation (E)