Fig. 3

Dietary fiber deficiency for 15 weeks induced microglial synaptic engulfment and neuroinflammation-synapse loss in the hippocampus. A The immunofluorescent staining of Iba1 (scale bar: 50 μm), the image capture from the box marked with a dotted line (scale bar: 10 μm). B Quantification of Iba1⁺cells numbers in CA1, CA3, and DG of the hippocampus (2 images per mouse, n = 6). C The protein level of Iba1 in the hippocampus (n = 6). D, E The circularity and ramification index of Iba1⁺ cells (2 images per mouse, n = 3). F mRNA expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines, TNFα, IL-6, and IL-1β in the hippocampus (n = 5). G The representative immunofluorescent staining of CD68 in the hippocampus, Scale bar: 25 μm. H mRNA expression of CD68 in the hippocampus (n = 6). I The protein level of CD68 in the hippocampus (n = 6). J The orthogonal view of the high-resolution confocal image shows the colocalization of Iba1 (green) and PSD95 (red) (Scale bar: 5μm). (K) The protein level of PTP1B (n = 6). L–N The protein level of pCaMKII/CaMKII, pGSK3β/GSK3β, and pTau/Tau in the hippocampus (n = 6). Values are mean ± SEM. *p < 0.05 fiber deficiency (FD) group vs. control (Con) group