Curcumin Alters Neural Plasticity and Viability of Intact Hippocampal Circuits and Attenuates Behavioral Despair and COX-2 Expression in Chronically Stressed Rats

Figure 3

Detection of neuronal cell death in organotypic hippocampal slice cultures (OHSCs) with kainic acid (KA) and curcumin treatment by propidium iodide (PI) staining. OHSCs were treated with 10 μM curcumin and 5 μM KA. (a) Representative images of PI uptake in OHSCs. Red represents PI fluorescence, which indicates cell membrane damage. Scale bar = 500 μm. (b) Quantification of hippocampal cell death. Data are shown as the percentage cell death. The fluorescence intensity of the control group was designated as 100%. Differences in PI fluorescence intensities among control, control + curcumin only, KA-only-treated group, and KA with curcumin groups were observed by fluorescence microscopy. The PI value is shown as mean ± SEM. Four hippocampal slices were used in each group. , versus control group. versus the KA-only-treated group.

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