Research Paper Advance Articles

Figure 2. Effects of chronic β3-AR treatment on BBB permeability, inflammatory markers and microvascular density in aged mice. (A) Workflow representing the steps in the BBB permeability assay. (B) BBB permeability index calculated to assess the permeability of 3kDa FITC tracer in the cortex and hippocampus of aged controls and CL-treated mice (n = 7–11 in each group, males) (C) Protein levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines and chemokines assessed by multiplex magnetic assay (n = 6–9 in each group, both sexes). A table presenting the exact levels of cytokines and chemokines, normalized to total protein levels, in both the saline- and CL-treated aged mouse groups is provided. The table also includes p-values to indicate statistical differences between the two groups. (D) Representative images of brain sections stained with endomucin and CD31 in the cortex and hippocampus. Middle panel represents the whole brain picture stitched from images obtained by tiling mode. Red box indicates the region imaged at 20x magnification for quantification of the vessel density and vessel length in the cortex and the hippocampus. Bar graphs indicate the quantification data for vessel density and total vessel length analysis in the cortex and the hippocampus (n = 4–8 in each group, males). Data are mean ± S.E.M. ^*P < 0.05 vs. aged controls.