Figure 5. Microglia depletion delays but does not prevent neuropathic pain development.

(a) An experimental diagram showing the timeline of drug treatments, SNT surgery and behavioural assays to test the role of resident microglia in SNT-induced neuropathic pain. TM was injected 3 weeks before DT treatment and SNT surgery. (b) A representative image showing microglia ablation in both contralateral and ipsilateral dorsal horn at POD3 after SNT. Scale bar, 100 μm. (c) Representative images showing macrophages in both contralateral and ipsilateral DRGs at POD3 after SNT. Scale bar, 50 μm. (d) Statistical data showing ablation effects at POD3 in the dorsal horn and DRG (n=3–4 mice for ablation and control group, n=2–3 images for each animal, ***P<0.001, t-test). MG, microglia. (e) Behavioural measurement showing mechanical allodynia in microglia ablation and control group (data represent mean±s.e.m., n=11 for ablation group and 8 for control group, ***P<0.001, *P<0.05, MG ablation ipsi versus control ipsi, U-test). CX₃CR1^CreER/+:R26^iDTR/+ mice with DT only were considered to be controls and mice with both TM+DT treatment was MG ablation group.