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Intensive Care Medicine Experimental
Fig. 2 | Intensive Care Medicine Experimental

Fig. 2

From: Modulatory effects of vagal stimulation on neurophysiological parameters and the cellular immune response in the rat brain during systemic inflammation

Fig. 2

Real-time PCR analysis of IkBα (a, b), SOCS3 (c, d), and NF-IL6 (e, f) in the hypothalamus (a, c, e) and in the cortex (b, d, f) 4.5 h after LPS or vehicle administration (n = 5). LPS caused an increase of the analyzed mediators in the hypothalamus and cortex. In the hypothalamus, vagus nerve stimulation significantly reduced the SOCS3 expression compared to the LPS + SHAM group (P < 0.05) and the NF-IL6 expression compared to the LPS + SHAM group (P < 0.01) and the LPS + VGX group (P < 0.01). Interestingly, in the cortex, vagotomy alone, independent of vagus nerve stimulation, caused a highly significant decrease of the IkBα and SOCS3 as well as NF-IL6 (P < 0.001) expression. Data are given as means ± SEM. Significance is given as: * compared to SHAM; *P < 0.05; **P < 0.01; ***P < 0.001; # compared as indicated; # P < 0.05; ## P < 0.01; ### P < 0.001; IkBα inhibitor of kBα, SOCS suppressor of cytokine signaling, NF-IL6 nuclear factor IL-6, LPS lipopolysaccharide, SHAM sham surgery, VGX bilateral vagotomy, VGX + VNS bilateral vagotomy and distal vagus nerve stimulation

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