Fig 3.

Comparison of astrocyte number and morphological features between open-skull technique (A-D) and thinned-skull technique (E-H). (A) In the open-skull technique, the number of astrocytes decreased at 24 hr and 3 d then increased at 1wk after surgery. (B-D) The size of astrocytes and their somas decreased at 3 d and 1 wk after surgery (B, C), while the ratio of the soma to astrocyte size increased at 1wk after surgery (D). (E-H) In the thinned-skull technique, no significant change was observed in astrocyte number, astrocyte or soma size, and the soma-to-astrocyte ratio at all observed time points after surgery. *,#,& p<0.05 by one way ANOVA with Tukey's post-test (n = 6 per group).