Fig. 1.

CB₁ receptor plays a role in diabetes-induced retinal cell death. a Representative images (×200 magnification, scale bars 25 μm) and (c) statistical analysis showing that diabetes induced significant increases in retinal cell death as indicated by quantitative analysis of TUNEL-positive cells in flat-mounted retina. Deletion of Cb₁ completely protected diabetic animals from retinal cell death (n=6). Arrows (a) indicate TUNEL-positive cells in retinal flat mounts. b Co-localisation studies in diabetic retinal sections demonstrated that several TUNEL-positive cells (green) are located within ganglion layer (GCL) and localised with endothelial cells as indicated by isolectin B4 (red); ×200 magnification; scale bars 25 μm. IPL, inner plexiform layer; INL, inner nuclear layer; ONL, outer nuclear layer. d Statistical analysis showing that treatment of diabetic animals (Diab) with SR 141716A (SR1) significantly reduced TUNEL-positive cells compared with diabetic animals treated with vehicle (Veh, n=6). *p<0.05 vs vehicle group; ^†p<0.05 vs wild-type diabetes