Figure 1.

BBB permeability evaluation in Lepr^db/db mice following short-term hyperglycaemia. (a) Changes in blood glucose levels (left) and body weight (right) of Lepr^db/db and control mice. (b) Representative images of cortical coronal sections from 10 kDa dextran challenges showing the overall view of normal functioning vessels, both in the diabetic and the control groups. (c,d) Leakage quantification shows average leakage incidence (c) and distribution of leakage areas (d) of 10 kDa dextran in 8–10 week-old diabetic Lepr^db/db and control mice (ns – non significant, c − P = 0.954, d − P = 0.108 unpaired two-tailed Student’s t-test, all data are mean ± s.e.m). (e) Examples of 10 kDa dextran extravasations in cortical coronal sections from vessels of 8 week-old diabetic Lepr^db/db mice. Most of the leakage incidents were small and infrequent. The image demonstrates examples of the most severe leakage incidents. Scale bar 100 μm. Bg - blood glucose. n = 5 mice for each group (d – n = 49 leakage incidents per group).