Fig. 7

Captopril treatment attenuates the KA-induced C3 expression in astrocytes and C3ar expression in microglia in the hippocampus 9 weeks after the KA induction. A Captopril significantly reduces the KA-induced upregulation of mRNA expression of C3 and C3ar in the hippocampus. n = 6 rats/group. B Representative anti-C3 (green) and anti-Gfap (red) double immunostaining indicates captopril attenuates the KA-induced elevation in astrocytic C3 production. C Representative anti-C3 (green) and anti-Iba1 (cyan) double immunostaining indicates C3 is not expressed in microglia in the hippocampus. D Representative anti-C3ar (red) and anti-Iba1 (cyan) double immunostaining indicates captopril attenuates the KA-induced elevation in microglia C3ar expression. E Quantification of C3 (green) signal intensity within Gfap⁺ (red) astrocytes is shown. F Quantification of C3ar (red) signal intensity within Iba1 (cyan) microglia is shown. Scale bar = 10 μm. n = 9 images from 3 rats/group, ^##p < 0.01, ^###p < 0.001, compared to control; ^*p < 0.05, **p < 0.01; ***p < 0.001, compared to KA, one-way ANOVA followed by Tukey’s post hoc test. Data are expressed as mean ± SE