Figure 3.

Intravenous lidocaine inhibits the activation of microglia and astrocyte, and the neuroinflammation in spinal dorsal horn

(A) Immunofluorescence images of microglia in the spinal dorsal horn.

(B and C) (B) Proportions of microglia-fluorescent area and (C) number of microglia in the spinal dorsal horn, which indicated that lidocaine infusion can reverse the RTX-induced activation of microglia.

(D) Immunofluorescence images of astrocytes in the spinal dorsal horn.

(E) Proportions of astrocyte-fluorescent area in the spinal dorsal horn, which indicated that lidocaine can reverse RTX-induced activation of astrocyte.

(F) Intravenous lidocaine inhibited the expression of TNF-α mRNA in the spinal dorsal horn of RTX rats.

(G) Intravenous lidocaine inhibited the expression of IL-1β mRNA in the spinal dorsal horn of RTX rats. The proportion and number of microglia and astrocytes were analyzed with ImageJ. Data were expressed as mean ± SEM. In (A–E), n = 6, 5 slices for each rat. In (F and G), n = 6. Statistical analyses consisted of one-way ANOVA tests followed by Tukey's post-hoc tests. Scale bars, 100 μm. ^##p < 0.01, ^###p < 0.001, ^####p < 0.0001; ∗p < 0.05, ∗∗p < 0.01, ∗∗∗p < 0.001.