Figure 7

Repair and inflammation in brains of SHR. Neurogenesis as measured by the number of doublecortin (DCX)-expressing cells in in the subventricular zone (SVZ) was increased in SHR (A). Similarly, brains of SHR exhibited larger vessel volumes, assessed by three-dimensional reconstruction of FITC-lectin stained endothelium (B). Neuronal nitric oxide synthase (nNOS) was significantly down-regulated in endothelial cells of SHR (C). IL-1β expression was significantly increased in SHR whole brain lysates, whereas the expression of TGFβ was comparable. In SHR endothelial cells, there was a non-significant increase of IL-1β expression and a significantly decreased expression of TGFβ. Endothelial matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-2 expression did not differ between SHR and WKY (D). Data are mean ± SD. *p < 0.05 and **p < 0.01 by t-test for n = 3-5 animals/group. Scale bar: 50 μm.