VPA attenuates pro-inflammatory gene expression after CCI. Gene expression analyses of pro-inflammatory markers normalized to Ppia. Quantification of the pro-inflammatory cytokines Il1b (A), Tnfa (B), Nos2 (C) and Il6 (D). Sample size vehicle CCI: n = 11, VPA CCI: n = 12. Outliers as determined by Grubb’s test were removed from further analysis (Il1b, Nos2, Il6: 1 outlier in VPA sham, Tnfa: 2 outliers in VPA sham). Data are expressed as mean ± SEM with individual values shown and p values (* p < 0.05, ** p < 0.01) were calculated by one-way ANOVA followed by comparison of pre-defined pairs (Vehicle versus VPA treatment) using t-test with α adjustment according to Holm–Šidák.