Fig. 6.

The effect of Menta-FX on the percentage of apoptotic retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) without activated caspase-3 immunoreactivity (A) or with activated caspase-3 immunoreactivity (B) in axotomized retinas. Menta-FX significantly decreased the percentage of apoptotic RGCs dying via a casapse-3-independent pathway at 3 days post-axotomy (dpa). Menta-FX slightly decreased the percentage of non-caspase-3-activated apoptotic RGCs at 5 and 7 dpa, but the difference fell short of statistical significance. On the other hand, Menta-FX did not affect the percentage of apoptotic RGCs that stained positive for activated caspase-3 at all time-points examined. These observations suggest that Menta-FX selectively lowered the population of apoptotic RGCs dying via a caspase-3-independent pathway. *P < 0.05 vs. PBS-treated group at the same time-point; student’s t-test. n = 3–4 per group