Figure 2

Unilateral 6-OHDA-induced changes in [¹²³ I]β-CIT SPECT/CT and immunohistochemical findings. All results are presented as percentage of the lesioned/left side versus the intact/right side. (A) The 6-OHDA injections caused a significant decrease in striatal [¹²³I]β-CIT uptake as compared to intact rats at both 2 and 4 weeks post-lesion. Furthermore, the two different lesions (8 and 2 × 10 μg) could be distinguished with [¹²³I]β-CIT SPECT/CT. Intrastriatal injection of 8 or 2 × 10 μg 6-OHDA resulted in extensive loss of (B) DAT- and (C) TH-immunoreactive fibers in the striatum, but there was no significant difference between the two lesion groups. However, when counting (D) TH-reactive cells in the substantia nigra pars compacta, the cell loss significantly differed between the lesion types. All results are shown as mean ± SEM. ***P < 0.001 as compared to intact rats; ^# P < 0.05, ^## P < 0.01, and ^### P < 0.001 as compared to 8-μg 6-OHDA lesion group (one-way ANOVA followed by Tukey post hoc test, n = 4 to 5 per group).