FIGURE 5.

Azithromycin elevates STAT3 phosphorylation in the ischemic striatum of rats subjected to 2 h MCAo followed by 22 h of reperfusion. (A) Representative immunofluorescence images of the contralateral and ipsilateral (ischemic) striatum of rats subjected to transient MCAo showing expression of p-STAT3 in some NeuN-positive neurons of the ischemic hemisphere. An increased number of p-STAT3 immunopositive cells can be observed in the ispilateral striatum of rats treated with azithromycin (AZM), being the signal mainly coincident with infiltrating leukocytes and arginase 1 (ARG)-immunopositive cells (lower panels), namely microglia/macrophages displaying an M2 phenotype. Scale bars = 70 μm. (B) Western blot analysis of phospho-STAT3 (Tyr705) (p-STAT3), total STAT3 and tubulin performed on brain homogenates from the ipsilateral (Ipsi, dark bars) and contralateral (Contra, white bars) striatum. Rats were treated with vehicle (0.9% NaCl) or azithromycin (AZM, 150 mg/kg), i.p., upon reperfusion. Data from the densitometric analysis of the autoradiographic bands are expressed as mean ± SEM of four independent experiments (n = 4 rats per experimental group); ^∗∗P < 0.01 vs. vehicle ipsilateral and ^##P < 0.01 vs. AZM contralateral (two-way ANOVA for repeated measures followed by Bonferroni post-test).