I am quantifying microglia using ImageJ and focusing on the circularity and density parameters of these cells in the olfactory bulb of mice that have been inoculated intranasally with VSV at 2,4,6, and 10 DPI and am having those compared side-by-side with mocks to comment on the inflammatory state of these mice characterized by the microglial response. I read that reactive or inflammatory microglia grow in size (which is something I see consistently across all DPIs), proliferate, and retract their processes and hence become more circular and dense to accommodate for their phagocytic functions. The increase in both size and number is significant (figures not attached), but I am not entirely sure how to interpret the circularity and solidity (or density) results I have in this dataset. Is it known for microglia to adopt specific phenotype/s directly post infection and change throughout the infectious course? I am essentially trying to understand the reason analyzed microglia are dropping in circularity and density on days 4 and 10, but not exactly days 2 and 6. I would have expected the circularity and density to rise across all days or at least climax at days 4 and 6, given that that's when they are the most sick of this virus. I would appreciate any help I could get or referencing of info I can read on this topic to comprehend whether these phenotypic changes translate into different functional roles, if at all.