Figure 1

Cerebellar Degeneration in NDEA, HFD-Fed and NDEA+HFD Treated Rats. Long Evans rats were treated with 3 i.p. injections of vehicle or NDEA (N = 12/group) on alternate days beginning on P3. From P21 (weaning), rats were fed with high fat (60% of calories) or low fat (5% of calories) diets for 8 weeks, after which they were sacrificed to harvest cerebella for histopathological and immunohistochemical staining studies. Cerebella were preserved in Histofix and paraffin-embedded sections (8 microns) were stained with (A1-A4) Luxol fast blue, H&E. Adjacent sections were immunostained to detect (B1-B4) GFAP, (C1-C4) HNE, or (D1-D4) ubiquitin. Representative photomicrographs of cerebellar cortex from (A1-D1) LFD+vehicle treated controls, (A2-D2) LFD+NDEA treated, (A3-D3) HFD+vehicle treated, and (A4-D4) HFD+NDEA treated rats are shown. Immunohistochemical staining was performed using the ABC method, and revealed with DAB (brown precipitate)-see Experimental Procedures. Sections were lightly counterstained with Hematoxylin (blue) to help reveal the tissue architecture. Cerebellar layers: ml = molecular layer; pc = Purkinje cell layer; gc = granule cell layer; wm = white matter. Note focal pc loss in A2, and large zones of pc loss in A3 and A4. (Original Magnifications = 400×).