Figure 4. Pioglitazone and estradiol co-treatment in males reduces T_FH responses.

(A) Six- to eight-week-old male CD4-PPARγ^KO mice and the littermate control mice were immunized with NP-OVA and were treated daily with DMSO, pioglitazone (10 mg/kg), E2 (60 μg), or pioglitazone (10 mg/kg) + E2 (60 μg) intra-peritoneally once a day from day 1 to day 6. (B,C) The mice were sacrificed on day 7 and inguinal lymph nodes were isolated and the cells were stained with anti-mouse CXCR5 and Bcl-6 antibodies to analyze the proportion of T_FH cells and the % of CXCR5⁺Bcl-6⁺-positive T_FH cells was indicated as a bar graph. (D,E) GL-7 and CD95 double-positive cells gated on B220-positive cells from the lymph nodes were analyzed and the % of GL-7⁺CD95⁺ GC B cells were represented as a bar graph. The data shown represent means ± SEM (n = 5/group, two independent experiments). One-way ANOVA was used for statistical analysis. *P < 0.05.