Abstract
At the request of the Journal Editor and SAGE Publishing, the following article has been retracted:
Ottani A, Giuliani D, Mioni C, et al. Vagus Nerve Mediates the Protective Effects of Melanocortins against Cerebral and Systemic Damage after Ischemic Stroke. Journal of Cerebral Blood Flow & Metabolism. 2009;29(3):512–523. 10.1038/jcbfm.2008.140
A reader approached us with concerns that were raised on PubPeer regarding the figures in this article. PubPeer commentors noticed that numerous Western blots appear highly similar. An Editorial assessment of the concerns raised indicated the following:
Figure 2A pJNK panel lanes 2, 5–9 appear duplicated Figure 2A JNK panel all lanes appear duplicated Figure 2A β-Actin panel all lanes appear duplicated Figure 2B pJNK panel lanes 2, 5–9 appear duplicated Figure 2B JNK panel all lanes appear duplicated Figure 2B β-Actin panel all lanes appear duplicated Figure 2C pJNK panel lanes 2, 5–9 appear duplicated Figure 2C JNK panel all lanes appear duplicated Figure 2C β-Actin panel all lanes appear duplicated Figure 2D pJNK panel lanes 2, 5–9 appear duplicated Figure 2D JNK panel all lanes appear duplicated Figure 2D β-Actin panel all lanes appear duplicated Figure 3A pERK panel lanes 2, 5–9 appear duplicated Figure 3A ERK panel all lanes appear duplicated Figure 3A β-Actin panel all lanes appear duplicated Figure 3B pERK panel lanes 2, 5–9 appear duplicated Figure 3B ERK panel all lanes appear duplicated Figure 3B β-Actin panel all lanes appear duplicated Figure 3C pERK panel lanes 2, 5–9 appear duplicated Figure 3C ERK panel all lanes appear duplicated Figure 3C β-Actin panel all lanes appear duplicated Figure 3D pERK panel lanes 5–9 appear duplicated Figure 3D ERK panel all lanes appear duplicated Figure 3D β-Actin panel all lanes appear duplicated Figure 4A β-Actin panel all lanes appear duplicated Figure 4B TNF-α panel 2, 5–9 appear duplicated Figure 4B β-Actin panel all lanes appear duplicated Figure 4C TNF-α panel 2, 5–9 appear duplicated Figure 4C β-Actin panel all lanes appear duplicated Figure 4D TNF-α panel 2, 5–9 appear duplicated Figure 4D β-Actin panel all lanes appear duplicated Figure 5A Caspase-3 panel 2, 5–9 lanes appear duplicated Figure 5B β-Actin panel all lanes appear duplicated Figure 6A Caspase-3 panel 2, 5–9 lanes appear duplicated Figure 6B β-Actin panel all lanes appear duplicated
The authors deny the images are duplicated and say that the appearance of duplication may be related to the low quality of the images. The authors were unable to provide the data used for this experiment, but have explained that they are able to replicate their findings with unprocessed samples to which they still have access. However, the Journal Editors deemed their response insufficient to the original concerns raised due to their inability to access the data underlying this article.
Due to the unresolved concerns about multiple images within the article that call into question the overall integrity of the findings, the Journal Editors retract this article.
[Authors agree/disagree/did not respond to the retraction]