Research Paper Volume 8, Issue 5 pp 1049—1060

Figure 3. The effects of age and stroke on body temperature, body weight, IL-6 and LBP levels. (A) There was a significant effect of stroke (F(1,40)=p<0.0001) and aging (F(1,40)=p<0.05) on body temperature 72 hours after 90 minute MCAO as well as an interaction between stroke and aging (F(1,40)=p<0.01, n=11/group) as measured by 2-way ANOVA. Body temperature decreased significantly after stroke in young (p<0.05) and aged (p<0.0001) mice, but aged mice had more severe hypothermia (p<0.01). (B) Young mice lost a significantly greater proportion of their initial body weight compared to aged 72 hours after 90 minute MCAO (p<0.05, n=15-19/group), however aged mice sustained significantly more weight loss than young at 7 days after 60 minute MCAO (p<0.05, n=4-7/group), as young mice largely recovered their initial weight by this time. (C) There was a significant effect of stroke on IL-6 levels measured 6 hours after 90 minute MCAO in both young (p<0.001) and aged (p<0.0001) mice, returning to sham levels by 24 hours in young mice but remaining elevated in aged at this timepoint (p<0.05) with a similar trend at 72 hours in aged mice (n=5-8/group). (D) Both stroke (F(1,36)=p<0.0001) and aging (F(1,36)=p<0.05) had a significant effect on serum LBP levels 72 hours after 90 minute MCAO as analyzed by 2-way ANOVA (n=8-15/group). Values are expressed as mean ± SEM. Abbreviations: IL-6, interleukin-6; A/YSH, aged/young sham; A/YST, aged/young stroke; LBP, lipopolysaccharide-binding protein. *, p≤0.05; **, p<0.01; ***, p<0.001.