Figure 5.

Twelve hours after adding H₂O₂ (100 μM) and FeCl₂ (15 μM) to the medium, with or without super‐saturated hydrogen, the hypertrophy and proliferation of cultured astrocytes were observed. (A) and (B) Immunocytochemistry of glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) demonstrating the morphological characteristics of hypertrophy and excessive expression of GFAP, and the fluorescence intensity data. (C) and (D) Images demonstrating the DNA synthesis of BrdU, which reflects the proliferation of astrocytes, and the percentage of positive cells. Hypertrophy, proliferation, and excessive expression of GFAP were obviously induced by H₂O₂ in the normal medium (NM) + H₂O₂ group (vs. control, P < 0.01) and were significantly inhibited by treatment with hydrogen‐rich medium (vs. NM + H₂O₂, P < 0.01). Results were means ± SEM of three independent experiments. **P < 0.01, NM + H₂O₂ vs. control; ##P < 0.01, H₂O₂ + hydrogen‐rich saline vs. H₂O₂ + normal saline. Scale bar for A = 20 μm and for C = 50 μm.