TABLE 3.

Results of caspase 8 biochemical assays

Treatment group	Caspase 8 activity (fluorescence intensity/mg protein)
	Relative value	Absolute value
4 h ischemia, 24 h reperfusion (n=6 hearts)	0.33 ± 0.60	27.64 ± 49.90
24 h ischemia (n=6 hearts)	0.82 ± 0.65	68.42 ± 53.85
Controls without ischemia (n=7 hearts)	1.0 ± 0.96	83.04 ± 79.65
Thymuses from mice given dexamethasone (n=6)	6.87 ± 3.05*	7811 ± 3469*
Thymuses from mice given saline (n=6)	1.0 ± 0.30	1134 ± 339

Results are means ± sd of ratios of intensity of fluorescence relative to that in normal hearts or thymuses from mice given saline. Absolute values are shown as well. 

^*P = 0.0039 compared with results in thymuses from mice given saline.