Figure 9.

Immediate splenectomy reduces TBI-induced neurodegeneration and CCL20 expression in the cortex. Degenerating neurons (FJ positive) were observed 24 hours or 48 hours after the induction of LFPI in animals with (splenectomy group) or without (no splenectomy group) immediate splenectomy. A. The histograms show the estimation of FJ-positive neurons as quantitated by the Image J program in the cortex. B. CCL20 expression was observed in the cortex 48 hours after LFPI in animals with (splenectomy) or without (no splenectomy) immediate splenectomy. The histograms show the estimation of CCL20-positive cells in the cortex. ** p < 0.0001 and * p < 0.001 compared to sham animals within the group. # p < 0.001 compared to 24h or 48h TBI between the groups.