TABLE 5.

Leptin receptor expression (Ob-Rb) in various brain structures during the acute stage of infection (14 days p.i.)^a

Mouse type	Expression (%) in:
	Cortex	Hippocampus	Hypothalamus
Sham	39	71	85
Infected	82	105	168
Infected/sham (%)	210	147	284

^aTotal RNAs were extracted from each pooled structure from three sham-inoculated and three infected mice. DNA products were loaded, transferred (Southern blotting), and hybridized with a specific radiolabeled internal probe. Densitometric analysis was performed after autoradiography and quantified by image analysis (NIH Image software). Ob-Rb expression was calculated as the Ob-Rb/GAPDH ratio in structures from infected mice relative to that in the same structures from noninfected mice (normalized values). Note the upregulation of Ob-Rb expression in the brain structures of infected versus sham-inoculated mice (almost twofold in the cortex and hypothalamus). The data for the sham-inoculated mice showed similar leptin receptor expression in the acute and late stages of infection in the cortex (39/36.3 ± 4.6) and hypothalamus (85/76.6 ± 5.6).