Fig. 8

Intraperitoneal injection of captopril protected residual neurons and promotes locomotor recovery after SCI (A) Mice were injected intraperitoneally with captopril (39 mg/kg) or the control solvent immediately after surgery until 28 dpi. (B) Representative immunofluorescence images of GFAP⁺ astrocytes (green) and NeuN⁺ neurons (red) in Z1-Z4 zones adjacent to the lesion core in mice treated with or without captopril (39 mg/kg) at 28 dpi. R and C represent the rostral and caudal sides of the injury respectively. (C) Quantification of NeuN⁺ neurons numbers in (B). (D) Behavioral testing using the BMS score was performed at 0–28 dpi in mice treated with or without captopril (39 mg/kg). ^*p < 0.05, ^**p < 0.01, ^***p < 0.001 in (C) and (D) by twoway ANOVA followed by Tukey’s post hoc test. (E) Footprint assays in mice treated with or without captopril (39 mg/kg) at 28 dpi. (F-H) Quantification of Paw rotation (F) Stride length (G) Stride width (H) in Footprint assays. Hollow data points represent values from male mice. Solid data points denote female mice. Scale bars: 100 μm (B). Data are presented as means ± SD. n = 7 mice per group in (C-H). ^*p < 0.05, ^**p < 0.01, ^***p < 0.001 in (F-H) by Student’s t test