Pregnancy Promotes Maternal Hippocampal Neurogenesis in Guinea Pigs

Figure 5

Assessment of the amounts of newly formed hippocampal dentate cells in pregnant guinea pigs at early, middle, and late gestational stages relative to nonpregnant controls at 42 days after BrdU incorporation. (a) illustrates the experimental design. Two BrdU injections are given to time-pregnant animals at the end of the second, fifth, and eighth week of gestation, with brains examined 42 days after BrdU administration. Brains from the nonpregnant group surviving for 42 days after BrdU injection (as noted in Figure 4) are examined as controls. (b) plots the numeric densities of BrdU+ cells obtained from the groups, which are quantified using the same method for Ki67, Sp8, and DCX labeling as shown in Figures 1–3. There exists a trend of increase in BrdU+ cells over the three gestational stages relative to control, with the difference between the late gestational and control groups reaching significance. Representative images of BrdU labeling (brown) with hematoxylin counterstain (blue) from individual groups are shown at low magnification and enlarged views, as indicated (c–l). BrdU+ nuclear profiles are indicated by arrows. Abbreviations are as defined in Figure 1. Scale  μm in (c) applying to (f, i, and l);, equivalent to 100 μm for (d, g, j, and m), and 25 μm for (e, h, k, and n).