Figure 2

Neuronal swelling impinges on brain capillaries. Perfusion fixed brain sections from Gcdh ^−/+ control (a) show normal cortical neuropil and capillary morphology (black arrows). b Gcdh ^−/− mice maintained on a standard diet show small lucent regions outside capillaries (black arrows). c After 24-hours of protein diet, lucent regions become more pronounced (black arrows) associated with swelling and edema of cortical axons (white arrows). d Gcdh ^−/− cortex shows vacuoles filling axon of large cortical neuron (white arrows) impinging on capillaries (black arrows) with some showing stasis at 24-hours. e Section of cortex from Gcdh ^−/− mouse 36-hours after protein diet showing large vacuoles (white arrows) impinging on blood vessel (black arrows) surrounded by astrocyte end-feet labeled with GFAP. (sections prepared by perfusion fixation, e – labeled for GFAP with DAB staining, counterstained with toluidine blue, scale bar = 10 um).