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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2020 Aug 1.
Published in final edited form as: J Neuroendocrinol. 2019 Jul 15;31(8):e12762. doi: 10.1111/jne.12762

Fig 5.

Fig 5

Layer-specific effects of gonadal hormones and stress on astrocyte counts and morphology in prelimbic cortex in male rats. A. Number of GFAP+ cells counted per image analyzed. The number of GFAP+ cells counted was reduced in layer 1 in CAST and CAST+T males compared to SHAM males. B. Total area of GFAP+ material. Stress decreased the area of astrocyte coverage in layers 2/3 and 5/6 in SHAM males and in layer 1 in CAST males, yet increased astrocyte area in layers 2/3 and 5/6 in CAST+E males. C. Process complexity per astrocyte. There was decreased process complexity in layer 2/3 in CAST+T compared to SHAM males. Stress increased astrocyte complexity in layer 5/6 in SHAM males, layer 2/3 in CAST+T males, and in layers 2/3 and 5/6 in CAST+E males. CAST: Gonadectomized males without hormone treatment. +T: Treated with testosterone. +E: Treated with estradiol. †p < .05, v p < .10 compared to same layer SHAM group. *p < .05, ^ p < .10 compared to same hormone condition unstressed group. X-axis labels represent layer (1, 2/3, 5/6). Error bars indicate SEM. Number of animals per group: SHAM male (unstressed: 6, stressed: 6), CAST (unstressed: 6–8, stressed: 6–9), CAST+T (unstressed: 6, stressed: 5), CAST+E (unstressed: 6, stressed: 7). CAST outlier removed from astrocyte area analysis (unstressed: layer 2/3, n = 1; stressed: layer 1, n = 2, layer 2/3, n = 1).