FIG. 6.

(A) Representative images of anti-ionized calcium-binding adapter molecule 1 (IBA1) staining in the ipsilateral cortex (see red square in schematic) illustrating microglial activation at 7 days post-injury (dpi) (scale bar: 50 μm). (B) Representative images of anti-glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) staining with astrocytic reactivity at 1 and 7 dpi in both males and females. Females exhibited increased GFAP staining compared with males at 1 and 7 dpi (scale bar: 1 mm). (C) Representative images of heme-oxygenase-1 (HO-1) staining in ipsilateral cortex confirmed few HO-1-positive astrocytes in Sham animals but at 1 dpi, females exhibited higher astrocytic HO-1 staining compared with males. At 7dpi, HO-1 staining remained in fewer astrocytes and exhibited a protoplasmic phenotype (scale bar: 200μm, inset: 50 μm). (D) Quantification of IBA1 staining in the ipsilateral cortex found no difference between Sham and 1 dpi animals. Both males and females at 7 dpi revealed a significant increase in IBA1 staining compared with Sham and 1 dpi animals. (E) GFAP quantification within the lesion quarter (see dotted line in B) showed astrogliosis, with an increase between Sham and 7 dpi animals (*p < 0.05 for males, and p = 0.19 for females). Interestingly, females had significantly higher GFAP staining at 1 dpi compared with males (*p < 0.05). (F) The quantification of HO-1 staining in the lesion quarter demonstrated a significant increase between Sham and 1 dpi animals (*p < 0.05). At 1 dpi, females had a significant increase in HO-1 staining compared with males (**p < 0.05). At 7 dpi, the staining density was comparable to Sham animals.