Fig. 5

Analysis of brain Iba-1 expression in ISS, VNS, LPS, and LPS + VNS- treated mice. a Representative Western blot showing Iba-1 and β-actin. b Western blot analysis of Iba-1 in whole brain homogenates of SSI, VNS, LPS, and LPS + VNS-treated mice. Each column represents the level of Iba-1 expressed as mean ± SEM, normalized to β-actin in a same gel. Different literals indicate significant differences in the expression level of Iba-1 among the different groups using one-way Analysis of Variance plus the Tukey-Kramer multiple comparisons test. F (3,16) = 6.7, p < 0.004. c Representative mouse brain sections of the different groups stained with anti-Iba-1 antibody (to detect microglia). Bottom images represent a nine-fold magnification of the region outlined in the box in the corresponding upper image. In LPS-treated mice, higher numbers of microglia with morphological characteristics of activated cells were observed