Fig. 3.

Effects of 28 days of variable stress on microglia in the NAc (A) There were no differences in cell counts in males or females after 28 days of variable stress. (B) Microglia phenotypes differed between male and female mice when exposed to 28 days of variable stress (p ​< ​0.05). Stressed females had significantly more primed microglia (p ​< ​0.05) and fewer surveilling microglia than unstressed females (p ​< ​0.0001). Unstressed females had a lower percentage of primed (p ​< ​0.01) and increased percentage of surveilling microglia (p ​< ​0.001) compared to unstressed males. Stressed males and females did not significantly differ within cell type (p values ​> ​0.05). (C) The ratio of primed to surveillant microglia increased in both stressed male and female mice (p ​< ​0.05). (D) Microglia area was reduced overall in females compared to males (p ​< ​0.05). (E) Branch length was also reduced in both stressed and unstressed females compared to males (p ​< ​0.05). (F) 28 days of variable stress did not alter complexity in female or (G) or male microglia. Cells were counted on 3 sections per animal and averaged for each animal, n= 5 animals per group. Figures show mean ​± ​SEM. ∗Indicates significant interaction, # indicates a main effect of stress and ˆ indicates a main effect of sex.