Figure 3.

Red extract inhibits the activation of Iba1+ microglia in the brainstem of CFA-injected rats. No effects of ASA. (A) Representative pictures of Iba1+ microglia in the medulla oblongata of the brainstem of CFA-injected rats drinking water, yellow or purple corn extracts (from top to bottom). Scale bars: 50 μm. Insets: magnification of representative microglia cells, showing thinner and feebly stained processes in rats drinking Red extracts with respect to rats drinking water or Yellow extract. Cells have been highlighted by dashed lines to perform quantitative analysis (see “Materials and Methods” section for details). (B) Histograms showing the average cell size (top) and the mean integrated optical density of Iba1 staining (bottom) in CFA-injected animals drinking water, Yellow or Red extracts and treated with saline (light colored-bars) or 50 mg/kg ASA (dark colored-bars). Animals have been sacrificed at 72 h post CFA injection (see protocol in Figure 1 and text for details). N = 4 (Water), 3 (Yellow) and 5 (Red) rats treated with saline, and three (Water, Yellow and Red) rats treated with ASA. *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01 and ***p < 0.001 with respect to corresponding purple corn supplement, two-way ANOVA followed by Bonferroni test.