Figure 2. WD increases body weight and induces pyroptosis in nitrergic, but not cholinergic, enteric neurons in mice.

Six-week-old CF-1 mice were fed with an RD or WD for 12 weeks. (A) Body weight (g) and (B) visceral fat pad weight (mg) of RD- and WD-fed male (M) and female (F) mice. n = 9 per group. (C) Representative images of CC1, nNOS, and ChAT staining of proximal colon. Arrows indicate the colocalization of CC1 and nNOS. Scale bars: 100 μm. The number of (D) nNOS⁺ neurons, (E) ChAT⁺ neurons, and (F) CC1⁺ neurons per field in proximal colon from RD- and WD-fed male and female mice, and (G) the percentage of nNOS⁺, ChAT⁺, and both nNOS⁺ and ChAT⁺ neurons that are CC1⁺ in proximal colon from WD-fed male and female mice. n = 5 per group. Data presented as the mean ± SEM. *P < 0.05; **P < 0.01; ****P < 0.0001 by 1-way ANOVA with Dunnett’s multiple-comparisons test and Bartlett’s test of equal variances.