Dexmedetomidine Alleviates Hypoxia-Induced Synaptic Loss and Cognitive Impairment via Inhibition of Microglial NOX2 Activation in the Hippocampus of Neonatal Rats

Figure 6

The NOX inhibitor apocynin protected against hypoxia-induced proinflammatory cytokine production and synaptic loss in the developing hippocampus. Neonatal rats were pretreated with dexmedetomidine or apocynin before hypoxia exposure, and then the expression of NOX2, IL-1β, PSD-95, and synaptophysin in the hippocampus was measured at 24 h after neonatal hypoxia by Western blot analysis. Representative Western blot images (a) and densitometric analyses (b–e) are presented. (f) NOX2 activity was measured using a cytochrome c reduction assay. The data are expressed as the , . vs. the Control+Veh group, ^# vs. the Hypo+Veh group. ns: no significance; Hypo: hypoxia; Pre-Dex: dexmedetomidine pretreatment; Post-Dex: dexmedetomidine posttreatment; Apo: apocynin; Veh: vehicle.

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