Figure. 2.

Mirtazapine administration promotes astrocyte proliferation and MT-1/2 upregulation in the striatal astrocytes of parkinsonian mice. (a,c,e) Representative photomicrographs of immunohistochemistry for S100β (green) and MT-1/2 (red) (a), GFAP (green) and MT-1/2 (red) (c), and MT-1/2 (red) (e) in the striatum of mirtazapine (5 or 16 mg/kg)-treated parkinsonian mice. Scale bar = 50 µm. (b) Quantification of the number of S100β- and MT-1/2-positive cells. (d) Quantification of the number of GFAP- and MT-1/2-positive cells. (f) Quantification of the optical density of MT-1/2-immunoreactivity. Data are presented as means ± SEM (n = 6). *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, and ***p < 0.001 versus control side of each group. ^#p < 0.05, ^##p < 0.01, and ^###p < 0.001 versus same side of vehicle-treated group. ⁺p < 0.05 between the two indicated groups.