Fig. 2.

Corticosterone (B) and 5α-tetrahydrocoticosterone (THB) reduced swelling, dermal width, cell infiltration and myeloperoxidase (MPO) activity in mouse ears with a different time course in a model of croton oil (CO)-induced irritant dermatitis. Representative images of ear tissue stained with H&E showing inflammatory swelling and changes in dermal thickness (a and b) and cell infiltration (g) after treatment with CO alone or together with steroids for 6 or 24 h, as indicated; c = cartilage & d = dermis. Magnification = 100x and 400x as indicated on the images; green arrows in (g) point to cell nuclei of infiltrating cells. Quantification of swelling (c, d), dermal thickness (e, f), cell number (h, i) and MPO activity (j, k) in ears of mice after treatment for 6 or 24 h with CO alone or combined with steroids as indicated. CTRL = control ears. In (j) a representative high magnification (1000x) image of neutrophils (red arrows) in a blood vessel of a CO-treated ear is provided. The dose of each steroid in the figure refers to the total dose applied to the mouse ear in a volume of 10 μL; B 5/10 = B 5/10 μg, THB 5/10/15/25/30/50 = 5αTHB 5–50 μg; data (mean ± SEM) were analysed by one-way ANOVA followed by Tukey’s post hoc test; in (c) n = 4–8/group, in (d) n = 8–12/group; in (e), (f), (h), (i), (j) and (k) n = 6–10 tissue sections/group; p ⩽ 0.05, ∼ vs CTRL, # vs CO, ^* vs B.