FIGURE 6.

Maternal nicotine increased the number of microglia Iba1 and BDNF double-positive staining cells. Low magnification (×100) of the hippocampal coronal sections of vehicle offspring and nicotine offspring (A, left) at postnatal day 20, respectively. Iba1-positive cells were marked with DAB (brown) and BDNF-positive cells were marked with AP (red). Increased number of Iba1-positive, BDNF-positive, and Iba1-positive BDNF-positive cells were observed in DG, CA1, CA3. The yellow arrowhead represents Iba1-positive BDNF-positive, the red arrowhead represents Iba1-negative BDNF-positive, and the blue arrowhead represents Iba1-positive BDNF-negative (A). BDNF protein level was distinctly increased in nicotine offspring, as compared to vehicle offspring (B, C). **p < 0.01; Scale bar: 100 μm (A, B); 50 μm (C). all data are means ± SEM.