Figure 8

Effect of mBMSC and EA treatment on the concentration of BDNF, NT4, and VEGF and on the expression of pCREB in the ipsilateral brain. ELISA assays for (A) mBDNF, (B) NT4, and (C) VEGF (n = 9). Concentration levels of mBDNF and NT4 were significantly increased in the combination treatment group compared to the vehicle-treated MCAO group. #p < 0.05, ##p < 0.01, and ###p < 0.001 versus control group; *p < 0.05 versus vehicle-treated MCAO group; $$p < 0.01 versus mBMSC-treated MCAO group; &p < 0.05 and &&p < 0.01 versus EA-treated MCAO group. (D) Western blot analysis and (E) its densitometry (n = 9). The expression of pCREB protein was also increased in the combination treatment group compared to the other MCAO-treated groups, but the difference was not significant. #p < 0.05, ##p < 0.01, and ###p < 0.001 versus control group. Uncropped images of western blots are shown in Fig. S4.