Figure 4

Selenium pretreatment reduces ischemic brain damage after one hour of cerebral ischemia followed by recirculation. A. Propidium iodide nuclear staining depicts the damaged area in contrast to the intact neighboring tissue. B. Microphotographs of NeuN immunostaining shows the neuronal population in control and ischemic brain area of selenium and saline pretreated mouse. Cerebral ischemia caused neuronal degeneration at 24 h of recirculation in striatum and some part of overlying cortex in saline treated mice. Selenium pretreatment, in contrast, restricted the neuronal damage to only striatal area of the brain after 24 h of recirculation. C. Fluoro-Jade B (green) and NeuN (red) staining confirm the loss of NeuN staining is associated with neurodegeneration. D. Graph shows infarct volume measured after 24 h of recirculation in both saline and selenium pretreated groups. Selenium pretreatment significantly decreased (p < 0.05) infarct volume at 24 h of recirculation. Data represents mean ± SD. *P < 0.05. Se = selenium and Cont = control. Bar = 100 μm.