Fig. 4

Topically applied menthol (ME) did not influence apoptosis, but suppressed markers of microglia and astrocyte activation and oxidative stress in ipsilateral brain. A–B Representative images and group analysis show that the expression of TUNEL (green color) was significantly increased among the water controls and mice in the ME-treated group compared with the sham-operated group (n = 6–8) on Day 2 after MCAO. C Western blot results display the expression of caspase-3 and PARP on Day 7 after ischemic stroke. β-Actin was used as the internal control. D–E Relative protein levels of caspase-3 (D) and PARP (E) were quantified after normalization to β-actin (n = 8–14). F Cerebral oxidative stress markers were evaluated by MDA content (n = 3) on Day 2 after ischemic stroke. G Western blot results display CD11b and GFAP expression. β-Actin was used as the internal control. H–I Relative protein levels of CD11b (H) and GFAP (I) on Day 7 after ischemic stroke were quantified after normalization to β-actin (n = 6). The results are shown as the means ± S.E.M. ^†p < 0.05 vs sham; *p < 0.05 vs water