Figure 5.

Map and Dex eye drops increase, in a dose-related manner, the number of positive apoptotic cells evaluated by the TUNEL technique in tarsal conjunctival sections prepared from guinea pigs sacrificed 24 hours after OVA challenge.

Notes: Ctrls received the vehicle alone and were not treated with topical OVA. (A) Representative micrographs. Apoptotic cells appear rounded and bright green. Nuclei were counterstained with DAPI. (B) Values are the mean ± standard error of the mean (n=10; both eyes of five guinea pigs were evaluated). *P<0.05, ^§P<0.01 versus OVA + vehicle; ^#P<0.01 versus Dex at the same dose (one-way ANOVA with Newman-Keuls post test). Scale bar equals 50 μm.

Abbreviations: Ctrl, control; DAPI, 4′,6-diamidino-2-phenylindole; Dex, dexamethasone; Map, mapracorat; OVA, ovalbumin; TUNEL, terminal deoxynu cleotidyl transferase dUTP nick end labeling.