Fig. 3: The impact of chronic oral minocycline treatment on microglia in the dentate gyrus (DG) and anxiety-related behavior of HAB mice.

HAB mice treated with oral minocycline (Mino) showed reduced Iba1⁺ cell density, Iba1⁺ cell area average, percentage of coverage by Iba1+ cells of the DG, and CD68⁺Iba1⁺ microglia density, compared to untreated HAB (a). Representative images of Iba1 (red) and CD68 (green) staining in the DG of HAB and HAB Mino groups (b), scale bar 50 μm. HAB mice show reduced anxiety behavior in the light/dark test following minocycline treatment, whereby HAB Mino group spent significantly more time in, more entries to, and more distance traveled in, the light arena compared to untreated HAB (c). Data are presented as mean ± SEM. n = 10–13. *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001 (Student’s t-test).