Research Paper Volume 8, Issue 5 pp 1049—1060

Figure 1. The effects of age on stroke outcome and the effects of stroke on gut permeability. (A) There was a significant effect of age on mortality 72 hours after 90 minute MCAO as analyzed by Mantel-Cox test of Kaplan-Meier survival curves (p<0.05, n=26-28/group). (B) Aged mice had significantly worse NDS than young 72 hours after 90 minute MCAO as measured by Mann-Whitney U test (p=0.05, n=18-21/group). (C) There was a significant effect of stroke (F(1,33)=p<0.05, n=9-10/group), but not aging, on intestinal permeability to NaF (MW 376 Da) 72 hours after 90 minute MCAO as measured by 2-way ANOVA. (D) The extent of gut permeability to NaF correlated positively with neurological deficit score at this timepoint (r=0.89, p<0.0001, n=18). (E) Permeability to the higher molecular weight FITC-Dextran (MW 4 kDa) significantly increased 24 hours after 90 minute MCAO in aged mice in plasma collected 2 hours after gavage (p<0.05, n=4/group). Values in (B) are expressed as box plots and values in (C, E) are expressed as mean ± SEM. Abbreviations: NaF, sodium fluorescein; NDS, neurological deficit score.” *, p≤0.05.