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Updated: Jun 6, 2026
Protocol for Three-dimensional Confocal Morphometric Analysis of Astrocytes
Published on: December 11, 2015
Cold stress induced morphological microglial activation and increased IL-1β expression in astroglial cells in rat
Shuei Sugama1, Takato Takenouchi, Masayo Fujita
1Department of Physiology, Nippon Medical School, 1-1-5 Sendagi Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8602, Japan. sugama@nms.ac.jp
Abstract:
The present study investigated the possible impact of cold stress on the immune functions of the brain. Wistar rats were exposed to 4°C for 2h prior to analysis of immunohistochemical analysis of OX-42 and IL-1β, which are markers of microglia and inflammation, respectively. Exposure to cold stress induced morphological microglial activation in as early as 30 min, and the activation lasted up to 2h following the stress. In addition, increased IL-1β-immunoreactivity was detected in the hippocampus and hypothalamus. However, IL-1β was not co-localized with microglia, and was predominantly expressed in astroglia. The present study provides the first evidence that cold stress contributes to neuro-immunomodulation in the brain through microglial activation and expression of IL-1β in astroglia.
