Research Paper Volume 11, Issue 24 pp 12278—12294

Figure 3. IGF-Exo inhibited neural apoptosis and neuroinflammation after SCI in vivo. (A) Schematic of tail intravenous injections of Nor-Exo and IGF-Exo in SCI model rats. (B) DTIs constructed for the SCI, Nor-Exo, and IGF-Exo groups at 1 day and 28 days after surgery. (C) Neuroelectrophysiological examination results for each experimental group (control, SCI, Nor-Exo, and IGF-Exo) at 3 days and 28 days after surgery. (D) MEP amplitudes for each experimental group at 3 days and 28 days after surgery. (E) Hematoxylin-Eosin staining of sections containing SCI lesions in each experimental group at 3 days and 28 days after surgery. (F) Cavity space percentages for each experiment group at 3 days and 28 days after surgery. (G) BrdU and NeuN immunofluorescence indicative of neuron regeneration in each experimental group at 28 days after surgery. (H) TUNEL staining (green) indicative of apoptosis after SCI in each experimental group; DAPI in blue. (J) Numbers of TUNEL-positive cells per field for each experimental group. (K–O) Western Blot analysis of pro- and anti-apoptotic proteins (BAX, Bcl-2, Beclin-1, and Caspase-3). Data are expressed as means ± SD (analysis of variance followed by Student-Newman-Keuls post hoc test). **P < 0.01, vs. control group; ##P < 0.01, vs. SCI group.