Fig. 9

Nasal instillation of C3a aggravates epilepsy-related cognitive dysfunction after captopril treatment. A The experimental design is shown. B Representative heat maps of the duration the rat spent around the old and new objects are shown. C C3a nasal drip reverses the cognitive amelioration by captopril treatment in NOR test. D A schematic diagram of Y-maze test is shown. E C3a nasal drip reverses the spatial memory amelioration from captopril in spontaneous alternation in Y-maze task. F The mean escape latency to the hidden platform in the water maze as a short-term learning function of 4 training days shows no significant difference. n = 6 rats/group, two-way ANOVA followed by Dunnett’s post hoc test. G Representative swimming paths in the MWM test for day 5 (spatial probe test day) are shown. H C3a nasal drip significantly reverses the therapeutic effects of captopril on the short-term memory impairment, indicated by a reduction in the percentage of time spent in the target quadrant where the platform is located. n = 6 rats/group, ^#p < 0.05, ^##p < 0.01, compared to control; *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, compared to KA + Cap; ^&p < 0.05; ^&&p < 0.01, compared to KA + Cap, one-way ANOVA followed by Tukey’s post hoc test. Data are presented as mean ± SE