Fig. 4.

Altered mRNA expression in the microdissected VPL 28 days after spinal nerve ligation. Tables summarize the expression of up to nine genes on microdissected contralateral (A1) and ipsilateral (B1) VPL as well as contralateral VPM (C) of naïve (n = 9), sham (n = 9), and SNL animals (n = 8) collected 28 days after the beginning of the experiments, with high expression level appearing in yellow and low expression level in dark blue. Red arrows indicate genes for which mRNA expression is significantly altered by the experimental conditions. In the contralateral VPL, mRNA expression of the CX3CL1 gene is significantly increased in SNL animals compared to naïve rats (A2: one-way ANOVA F(2, 23) = 4.243, p = 0.027) while in the ipsilateral VPL mRNA of the S100β gene is significantly decreased in SNL animals compared to naïve rats (B2: one-way ANOVA F(2, 23) = 3.972, p = 0.033). Even though mRNA expression of the tested genes appears low in the contralateral VPM of SNL animals (C), no significant difference is found. Post hoc test (Tukey’s multiple comparison test): *p < 0.05