Figure 3.

Immunohistochemical staining for RANKL. Expression patterns of RANKL in the periodontal tissue at the furcation of first molars sampled from the rats euthanized at 30 days are shown. Low number of positive staining cells for RANKL was observed in the furcation of non-ligated animals treated with vehicle (A) as well the non-ligated animals treated with Mikania laevigata extract (MLE) (B). Increased number of RANKL positive cells were found in the furcation of the ligated-animals treated with vehicle (C). Lower number of RANKL stained cells were found in the furcation of the ligated-animals treated with MLE (10 mg/kg/day for 30 consecutive days). (E) Data are presented as median ± standard deviation of the average RANKL positive cells/per area of furcation. Negative control staining was carried out by the incubation with secondary antibody alone that showed lack of immunostaining pattern in all experimental groups (data not shown). # p<0.05 compared with control animals; * p<0.05 compared with ligature-induced periodontitis treated with vehicle (ANOVA followed by Bonferroni’s test). The figure is representative of at least 4 different sections obtained from each group. Scale bar at lower (40x) magnification=100 μm, and scale bar at higher (400x) magnification=20 μm