Fig. 2

BTX-A promoted microglial activation and M2 polarization in NP rats. Sprague–Dawley rats were randomly divided into the four groups (n = 10/group): Sham, CCI-induced NP, BTX-A-10 (rats were administered 10 U/kg BTX-A following CCI), and BTX-A-20 group (rats were administered 20 U/kg BTX-A following CCI). a, b Representative immunofluorescence images in rat L4–L6 spinal cord segments fourteen days after CCI induction. DAPI (nuclei, blue), total microglia (Iba-1; red), M1-microglia phenotype (CD68; green), and M2-microglia phenotype (CD206, green). c Quantification of CD68-positive and CD206 positive cells per field. **P < 0.01, vs. Sham; ^#P < 0.05, ^##P < 0.01, vs. NP