Research Paper Volume 8, Issue 11 pp 2713—2733

Figure 4. SkQ1 improves neurotrophic supply in the hippocampus. (A) Enzyme immunoassay analysis showed no differences in the levels of total hippocampal BDNF among 18-month-old Wistar rats, untreated OXYS rats, and SkQ1-treated OXYS rats (n=8). (B) Representative 40 × immunofluorescent images of staining for mBDNF (red), proBDNF (green), and cell nuclei (DAPI, blue) in the CA1 region of the hippocampus. (C) Hippocampus levels of TrkB and phTrkB were not different between Wistar rats and untreated OXYS rats (n=6). The level of TrkB decreased in the hippocampus of SkQ1-treated OXYS rats (p<0.05). Measurement of the phTrkB/TrkB ratio showed a significant decrease of this ratio in the hippocampus of OXYS rats (p<0.04). Treatment with SkQ1 increased the phTrkB/TrkB ratio in OXYS rats (p<0.05). (D) Representative 40× immunofluorescent images of staining for receptors TrkB (red; upper row) and phTrkB (red; lower row) and for cell nuclei (DAPI, blue) in the CA1 region of the hippocampus. (E) Representative 40× immunofluorescent images of colocalization of proBDNF (red), p75^NTR receptor (green), and cell nuclei (DAPI, blue) in the CA1 region of hippocampus. A.u.: arbitrary units. The data are shown as mean ± SEM. Statistical significance (p<0.05) is denoted by the asterisk.