Research Article

Synaptic Injury in the Thalamus Accompanies White Matter Injury in Hypoxia/Ischemia-Mediated Brain Injury in Neonatal Rats

Figure 3

Ultrastructural changes observed in synapses at 14 d after HI injury in the thalamus. (a, b) TEM images of the synapses in the thalamus from the right hemispheres exhibited fewer synaptic vesicles at the presynaptic terminal in the HI group, accompanied by a decrease in vesicles located in the AZ and ready to release (scale bar = 500 nm). (c, d) Low magnification of TEM images of the synapses in the thalamus from the right hemispheres recognizable by their postsynaptic density (scale bar = 2 µm). (e) The quantitative analysis showed that the AZ length and the PSD thickness were both decreased in the HI group compared with the sham group at 14 d after HI injury in the right thalamus. (f) The quantitative analysis of the numerical synaptic density of synapses per mm2 showed significant decrease of synapses in the right thalamus in the HI group at 14 d after HI injury ( and ).
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