Research Paper Volume 8, Issue 11 pp 2713—2733

Figure 5. SkQ1 increased the density of asymmetric synapses and improved synaptic structure in the CA1 region of the hippocampus. (A) The low density of synapses in the hippocampus of OXYS rats (n=4; p<0.05) and an increase by 17% in response to SkQ1 treatment. (B) A decrease in the number of symmetric synapses in response to SkQ1 treatment (p< 0.05). (C) The low number of asymmetric synapses in the hippocampus of OXYS rats and an increase in response to SkQ1 treatment (p<0.05). (D–F) Typical synaptic neuropil of the CA1 region in a Wistar rat, untreated OXYS rat, and SkQ1-treated OXYS rat. (D) Asymmetric synapses (white arrows) on a dendritic spine (sp) and on a nonspiny dendrite (ns) in a Wistar rat. (E) Symmetric synapse (black arrow) on a nonspiny dendrite (ns) containing a large mitochondrion (mito), and a degenerative myelinated axon in neuropil of an untreated OXYS rat. (F) Asymmetric synapses (black arrows) on a nonspiny dendrite (ns) in neuropil of an SkQ1-treated OXYS rat. The scale bar is 1 µm. The data are shown as mean ± SEM. Statistical significance (p<0.05) is denoted by an asterisk.