Fig. 5: Altered astrocyte morphology in the hippocampus of children with ASD.

Sholl analysis was conducted on a subset of samples from children with ASD and non-ASD control subjects (n = 6/group). A No differences in branch intersections, branch length, surface area, or volume, were observed between diagnosis groups for astrocytes expressing GFAP only (A–D). A significant decrease was observed for branch diameter (E) together with an increase in branch nodes and endings (F, G) for GFAP only astrocytes in children with ASD. No differences were detected for branch intersections, branch length, surface area, volume, or diameter for astrocytes co-labeled with GFAP and BCAN (H–L). Branch nodes and endings were significantly decreases in GFAP-BCAN astrocytes from children with ASD (M, N). Representative tracings of a GFAP-BCAN astrocyte from a control subject (O) and a subject with ASD (P). Branch intersections across all astrocytes displayed a significant interaction between age and diagnosis, resulting in a negative correlation of intersections by age in control subjects compared to a positive correlation in subjects with ASD (Q). Blue circles represent values from subjects with ASD, white circles represent values from control subjects. Significance values are derived from stepwise linear regression models. Bar graphs depict the mean (histogram) and 95% confidence intervals (black lines).