Figure 2.

Chronic stress causes a reduction in the neuropil volume occupied by astrocytes in BA but not in dCA3. A, Schematic of experimental protocol: individual astrocytes were filled with Alexa Fluor 568 dye by sharp electrode iontophoresis. The confocal image of a filled cell was converted to binary format and the volume occupied by the cell was calculated by the equation mentioned. B, Location of dye-filled astrocytes on coronal brain sections in reference to the bregma. The dots represent individual cell locations from one batch of animals. Controls: black; CIS: red. C, Representative image of dye-filled astrocytes in dCA3: left, control; right, stress. D, No significant difference was observed in the neuropil volume occupied by dCA3 astrocytes with stress (control: N = 11 animals, n = 45 cells; stress: N = 10 animals, n = 35 cells). E, Representative image of dye-filled astrocytes in BA: left, control; right, stress. F, Average neuropil volume occupied by BA astrocytes shows a significant reduction with stress (Student's unpaired t-test, **p < 0.01; control: N = 13 animals, n = 45 cells; stress: N = 12 animals, n = 44 cells). Bar insert, Number of animals and number of cells (in parentheses). Scale bar: 20 µm.