Fig. 5.

Curdlan exposure reproduces arthritic phenotype in SKG mice but does not result in uveitis. Animals evaluated clinically for arthritis for 10 weeks following curdlan injection exhibited increasingly severe arthritic disease (a) and increased incidence (b) over time, with females showing worse disease and earlier onset than males. c–e The onset and severity of periocular manifestations in SKG mice were graded in response to curdlan using the binary scoring system (as in Fig. 2) and images of the presence of blepharitis (score of 1; e, left) or blepharitis with coinciding conjunctivitis and/or discharge (score of 2; e, right). f Analysis of intravital videomicroscopy of iris vasculature and tissue at 10 weeks following curdlan injection revealed significant increases in intravascular leukocyte rolling and adhesion in curdlan-injected animals compared with naive SKG mice. These increases were not accompanied by leukocyte infiltration into extravascular iris tissue. g Quantification of eye histological sections from naive versus curdlan-injected animals at 10 weeks show no difference in the number of cells infiltrating into the anterior and posterior chambers in curdlan-injected mice. *p < 0.05 for comparison between curdlan-injected and non-injected SKG mice (observed in both sexes); ^Ψ p < 0.05 indicates comparison between sexes in curdlan-injected SKG mice; n = 12 mice/group (combined two individual experiments)