Figure 2: Photomicrographs of the brain taken from two 14-week-old female FVB/n mice found dead with nonspecific gross lesions and no premonitory signs.
From: Diagnosis | 'Space cadet' syndrome of female FVB/n mice
Both sections are of the hypothalamus. Glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) antibody has been used as an immunostain for glial cells, which stain strongly brown. In (a), there is increased labeling for the immunostain (GFAP) most likely from astrocytes filling in the areas of neuronal dropout. It is likely this animal had multiple seizure episodes prior to death that caused ischemic neuronal necrosis and subsequent dropout of neurons. The histopathological appearance of the brain in this mouse is consistent with lesions associated with status epilepticus in humans. In contrast, (b) shows immunohistochemical labeling for GFAP within the normal range, indicative of a normal number of neuroglia and suggesting that this animal most likely experienced a single acute and fatal epileptic episode. (Hematoxylin counterstain; low-medium (a) and low (b) power magnification.)
