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Fig. 3 | BMC Neuroscience

Fig. 3

From: Chronic oxycodone induces axonal degeneration in rat brain

Fig. 3

Chronic oxycodone activates astrocytes and increases percentage of TUNEL-positive cells in rat brain. a Immunofluorescent analysis of GFAP (red) in corpus callosum, striatum, and cerebellum of rats treated with water (W) or oxycodone (O). Scale bar denotes 20 μm for all images. b TUNEL assay of cells in cerebral cortex, striatum, cerebellum, and brain stem areas of rats treated with water (W) or oxycodone (O). Control—slides with oxycodone tissues were pretreated with TACS-Nuclease solution™ to serve as a positive control. Scale bar denotes 50 µm for brain stem images and 20 µm for all other images. c Table I. Percent of TUNEL-positive cells in rat brain tissues exposed to water (W) oxycodone (O) and in control slides. Data presented as mean value of TUNEL-positive cells (± SEM). Cerebral cortex: three separate fields containing 33–91 cells per field, oxycodone versus water p < 0.01, and oxycodone versus control p < 0.001. Striatum: three separate fields containing 53–76 cells per filed, oxycodone versus water p = 0.4, and oxycodone versus control p = 2×10−4. Cerebellum, granular layer: three separate fields containing 85–229 cells per field, oxycodone versus control p < 0.001. Brain stem: four separate fields containing 38–63 cells per field, oxycodone versus control p < 0.001

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