Fig. 7.

CR8 administration reduces inflammation in the lumbar dorsal horn following spinal cord injury (SCI). (a) Spinal cord lumbar sections from injured rats perfused at 5 weeks were stained with mouse anti-CD68 (ED1)/ionized calcium-binding adaptor molecule 1 (Iba-1). All images were taken from the superficial dorsal horn. In the sham tissue, no ED1⁺ microglia cells were observed. After SCI, the number of ED⁺/Iba-1⁺ microglia (arrows) was increased and attenuated by CR8 treatment. (b) Quantification of ED1⁺-/Iba-1⁺-activated microglial cells showed that, after SCI, there are significantly more activated microglia in the lumbar spinal dorsal horn of saline-treated rats (n = 7) than in sham animals (n = 5, *p < 0.05). CR8 treatment significantly reduced ED1⁺-/Iba-1⁺-activated microglial cells [#p < 0.05 SCI CR8 vs SCI vehicle (Veh); n = 7/group]. Scale bar = 100 μm