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

Figure 3

Effect of ethanol exposure on the TLR4 expression 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 TLR4⁺ cells. 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 TLR4⁺ cells from WT and WT+EtOH rats are shown in (d) (CA1), (e) (CA2/3), and (f) (DG). The number of TLR4⁺ cells 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⁺ (). . The hippocampal protein level of TLR4 (g) was measured by WB, and quantitative analyses were normalized to GADPH. Data are presented as the . .