Figure 2.

Estrogen effects on NMDAR1 immunoreactivity as assessed by immunohistochemistry in rat lumbar spine L_4–6 dorsal root ganglia 14 days after CCI surgery.

(A–E) NMDAR1 immunoreactivity in L_4–6 dorsal root ganglia derived from the sham-operated, CCI, estrogen, AP-5, and estrogen + AP-5 groups, respectively (immunohistochemical staining, light microscope, × 200). Scale bars: 50 μm. Arrows show NMDAR1 immunoreactive cells. (F) Quantification (integrated optical density; IOD) of NMDAR1 immunoreactive cells. Data are expressed as the mean ± SD from five rats in each group (one-way analysis of variance and Student-Newman-Keuls test). *P < 0.05, vs. sham-operated group; #P < 0.05, vs. with CCI group. See Figure 1 legend for group definitions. NMDAR1: N-methyl-D-aspartic acid receptor 1; CCI: chronic constriction injury; AP-5: D(-)-2-amino-5-phosphonopentanoic acid. I: Sham-operated; II: CCI; III: Estrogen; IV: AP-5: IV: Estrogen + AP-5.