Fig. 4

Evaluation of GW toxic exposure on astroglial activation (glial fibrillary acidic protein [GFAP]) at 5 months after mTBI in the superficial layers of the cortex and in the Hippocampus. In both brain regions, healthy astrocytes with quiescent morphology were observed in sham vehicle animals (a, e). Gulf War exposure had no effect overall on the cortex, but an injury effect was observed in the cortex of female animal (a–d, I, * P < 0.05, Two-Way ANOVA-followed by Tukey post hoc comparisons). A three-Way ANOVA analysis revealed a Sex and Injury effect: Sex F_{(1, 73)} = 4.742 P < 0.05; Injury F_{(1, 73)} = 14.22 P < 0.0003; Exposure F_{(1, 73)} = 0.2545, P > 0.05. In the hippocampus (CA1/CA3) both male and female sham/GW exposed animals showed a moderate astrogliosis with variable degree of thickened cell processes and hypertrophic cell soma. (e–h, j *P < 0.005; Two-Way ANOVA-followed by Tukey post hoc comparisons) but no injury effect was reported. Three-Way ANOVA summary revealed only an exposure effect for the dataset: Sex F_{(1, 75)} = 0.1208 p=7291; F_{(1, 75)} = 0.4167, P = 0.5206; Treatment F_{(1, 75)} = 31.50 P < 0.0001. Data are presented as Whiskers: Min to Max. Show all points; symbol represents 1 mouse N = 8/12 per group per Sex)