Proinflammatory Factors Mediate Paclitaxel-Induced Impairment of Learning and Memory

Figure 3

Cell apoptosis in the hippocampal CA1 region of rats treated with paclitaxel. (a–d) TUNEL staining was used to observe differences in apoptosis (×200). Paclitaxel treatment significantly increased TUNEL-positive cells (b) while thalidomide significantly decreased TUNEL-positive cells in paclitaxel-treated rats (d). (e) Quantitative analysis of TUNEL-positive neurons per square millimeter in each group. No significant difference in the number of TUNEL-positive cells was observed between the vehicle- and thalidomide-treated rats. Data are expressed as mean ± SEM () and analyzed using one-way analysis of variance and Dunnett’s post hoc test. compared with the vehicle group. compared with the PTX group. Vehicle: vehicle-treated group; PTX: paclitaxel-treated group; THD: thalidomide-treated group; THD + PTX: paclitaxel- and thalidomide-treated group; TUNEL: terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP nick end labeling.

(a)

(b)

(c)

(d)

(e)