FIG. 7.

Prenatal CAPs exposure shifts microglia towards an activated phenotype in a sex- and regionally dependent manner. (A) Microglia were assigned a numerical activation state of 1 (quiescent glia with fully ramified morphology), 2 (quiescent microglia with less ramified processes with cell bodies increasing in size), 3 (larger cell body and loss of some, but not all, processes), or 4 (complete loss of ramification and a large, amoeboid cell body). (B) Gestational CAPs shifted microglia towards an activated phenotype in hippocampus of females, but not males, without altering the total number of microglia counted. (C) Gestational CAPs shifted microglia towards an activated phenotype in CC in both sexes, with a significant corresponding shift away from ramified microglia and significantly decreased the total number of microglia in this region. Data represent mean ± SEM of 3 serial sections of brain tissue (N = 6–11 per group). *P < .05, **P < .01.