Fig. 5 | Scientific Reports

Fig. 5

From: Environmental enrichment alleviates neuropathic pain-associated anxiety by enhancing the function of parvalbumin interneurons in the anterior cingulate cortex

Fig. 5

Chemogenetic activation of PV interneurons alleviated anxiety-like behaviors in mice with neuropathic pain (A) Schematic of the experimental design. (B) Diagram of viral microinjection. (C) Representative image showing the mCherry expression in the ACC (whole figure scale bars: 200 μm, local figure scale bars: 20 μm). (D) Representative images of PV interneurons (green) merged with mCherry (red) in the ACC (scale bars: 20 μm). (E) Quantitative analysis of the proportion of overlapping cells in total PV+ cells, and the proportion of overlapping cells in total mCherry+ cells. (F–G) Time courses showing paw withdrawal thresholds to von Frey filaments and withdrawal latency to heat stimulation. (H) Trajectories of mice in the OFT. (I) Total distance traveled throughout the arena in the OFT. (J) The time spent in the central area of the OFT. (K) Trajectories of mice in the EPMT. (L) Total distance traveled throughout the arena in the EPMT. (M) Time spent in the open arm in the EPMT. (N) Latency to initiate feeding in NSFT. (O) Food consumption in NSFT. All data represent the mean ± SEM (n = 8–10 mice per group). &&&p < 0.001 versus baseline; *p < 0.05, ***p < 0.001 versus mCherry + CNO group; #p < 0.05, ###p < 0.001 versus hM3Dq + VEH group.

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