Ethanol Exposure Induces Microglia Activation and Neuroinflammation through TLR4 Activation and SENP6 Modulation in the Adolescent Rat Hippocampus

Figure 1

Effect of ethanol exposure on the number of microglia (Iba-1 staining) in the hippocampus. Representative photomicrographs of level-matched coronal sections of CA1 (a, A–H), CA2/3 (b, A–H), and DG (c, A–H) from WT (A, E), WT+EtOH (B, F), KO (C, G), and KO+EtOH (D, H) rats. White arrows indicate Iba-1⁺ microglia. Regions of interest (framed areas) in A–D are presented in E–H. Scale bar: 100 μm in A–D; 20 μm in E–H. WT = control rats without ethanol; WT+EtOH = control rats with ethanol; KO = TLR4 knockout rats without ethanol; KO+EtOH = TLR4 knockout rats with ethanol. CA1 = field CA1 of the hippocampus; CA2/3 = field CA2-3 of the hippocampus; DG = dentate gyrus of the hippocampus. Quantifications of Iba-1⁺ microglia from WT, WT+EtOH, KO, and KO+EtOH rats are shown in (a, I) (CA1), (b, I) (CA2/3), and (c, I) (DG). The number of Iba-1⁺ microglia was averaged from five random areas across each region in consecutive three sections of each rat. Data are presented as the mean number of Iba-1⁺ (). , .