Fig. 7
Immunoreactivity for TH in the SNc and in the striatum. Mice were treated with MPTPp alone or in the presence of SZV558 or rasagiline, and sacrificed 3 days after the 10th MPTPp administration. Coronal sections were processed for TH immunostaining as described in the Materials and Methods. Representative coronal sections of SNc immunostained for TH show the TH positive neuronal reduction induced by MPTP treatment (a). The graphs show the number of TH immunoreactive cells (b) and of Nissl-stained cells (c) in the SNc, expressed as a percentage with respect to vehicle-treated mice. SZV558 and rasagiline prevented the loss of TH-positive neurons in the SNc, as compared with the animals treated with MPTPp. Representative coronal sections of striatum immunostained for TH at 5× magnification (d). The graph shows the mean density of gray value of TH expressed as a percentage with respect to vehicle-treated mice (e). The TH density reduction confirms the neurodegeneration induced by MPTP. The two compounds prevent the loss of TH positive fiber induced by MPTPp. Values are expressed as mean ± SEM. * P < 0.05 compared with vehicle. # P < 0.05 compared with MPTPp. Data were statistically compared with one-way ANOVA, followed by Tukey’s post hoc test. N: 4–7/group