Research Article
Dexmedetomidine Alleviates Hypoxia-Induced Synaptic Loss and Cognitive Impairment via Inhibition of Microglial NOX2 Activation in the Hippocampus of Neonatal Rats
Figure 3
Dexmedetomidine suppressed NOX2 activation in hippocampal microglia and cultured BV2 microglia following hypoxia. (a–d) Neonatal rats were treated with dexmedetomidine 30 min before or immediately after hypoxia exposure. (a) Representative Western blot images of NOX2 in the hippocampus were taken 24 h after neonatal hypoxia, and the level of NOX2 expression is presented as the percentage of that in the Control group. (b) NOX2 activity was measured using a cytochrome c reduction assay. (c) Immunofluorescence of NOX2 (green), microglia (red, labeled by Iba-1), and DAPI (blue) in the hippocampal CA1 region (the white arrowheads show NOX2 and Iba-1 colabeled cells). (d) Number of NOX2+ microglia in the hippocampal CA1 region. (e–g) Microglia were treated with dexmedetomidine 2 h before or immediately after hypoxia exposure. (e) Representative Western blot images of NOX2 in cultured BV2 microglia harvested 24 h after hypoxia exposure, and the level of NOX2 expression is presented as the percentage of that in the Control group. (f) NOX2 activity was measured using a cytochrome c reduction assay. (g) Immunofluorescence of NOX2 (red), microglia (green), and DAPI (blue) in BV2 cells. Representative photomicrographs were captured under a confocal microscope. The data are expressed as the , . vs. the Control group, # vs. the Hypoxia group, & vs. the Hypo+Pre-Dex group. Hypo: hypoxia; Pre-Dex: dexmedetomidine pretreatment; Post-Dex: dexmedetomidine posttreatment.
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