Fig. 13

Blast induced swelling and degeneration of astrocytic endfeet in the frontal motor cortex. a-f Electron micrographs are shown from sections of the frontal motor cortex of control (a, c, f) and blast-injured (b, d, e, g, h) rats. Animals were euthanized 6 weeks following blast exposure. Asterisks (*) indicate astrocytic endfeet, which are swollen and contain degenerating organelles in all the blast-exposed microvessels. The lumens of the microvessels in the blast-exposed animals also appear irregular and collapsed. Perivascular astrocytes (A) are visible in panels (c) and (e). Scale bars, 2 μm. Scale bar in panel (b) applies to panels (a) and (b). Scale bar in panel (c) applies to panels (c, e, f, g) and (h). Scale bar in panel (d) applies only to panel (d)