Figure 2. Effects of diosgenin on axonal and presynaptic abnormalities associated with amyloid plaques.

(A) Double labeling with antibodies to Aβ(1−40/42) (red) and pNF-H (green) or Aβ(1−40/42) (red) and synaptophysin (green) was carried out. Bulb-like axonal structures positive for pNF-H antibody and swollen puncta positive for synaptophysin antibody were localized only in the amyloid plaque areas. Representative images of the cerebral cortex of vehicle-treated wild-type (Wild/Veh) mice, as well as 5XFAD (5XFAD/Veh), diosgenin-treated 5XFAD (5XFAD/Dios) and memantine-treated 5XFAD (5XFAD/Mema) mice, are shown. (B) The quantified areas of abnormal axons per 100 μm² of amyloid plaque are shown in the cerebral cortex and hippocampus. (C) The quantified areas of abnormal presynapses per 100 μm² of amyloid plaque are shown in the cerebral cortex and hippocampus (*p < 0.05, **p < 0.001, one-way ANOVA post hoc Dunnett's test; the number of measured areas is shown in each column).