Skip to main content
. 2015 Apr 8;16(4):7753–7775. doi: 10.3390/ijms16047753

Figure 4.

Figure 4

Changes in skin elastic parameters after ovariectomy, with or without UVB irradiation. Data represent means ± SD, n = 8. **, * p < 0.01, 0.05, a (vs. sham/UVB−); b (vs. ovariectomy/UVB−); c (vs. sham/UVB+). At seven weeks old, 48 mice were divided into six groups of eight mice each, as follows: (i) group 1, nonoperation/UVB− group; (ii) group 2, sham operation/UVB− group; (iii) group 3, ovariectomy/UVB− group; (iv) group 4, nonoperation/UVB+ group; (v) group 5, sham operation/UVB+ group; and (vi) group 6, ovariectomy/UVB+ group. A bank of six Toshiba SE lamps was used without any filtering for UVB (peak of emission near 312 nm, the irradiance between 290 and 320 nm corresponding to 55% of the total amount of UVB). The distance from the lamps to the animals’ backs was 35 cm. A progressive UVB exposure regimen was used starting at approximately 50 mJ/cm2 (non-operated mice: 1MED ¼ 70 mJ/cm2/day at week 1, which was then increased by 5 mJ/cm2/week until week 4. The exposure dose of 65 mJ/cm2 was then kept constant for the remaining period of exposure, the mice being irradiated five times weekly for 14 weeks. The total UVB dose was approximately 4.4 J/cm2. Ue/Ue*: immediate distension, Uv/Uv*: delayed distension, Ur/Ur*: immediate retraction, Ue/Ue*: final distension.