Table 1.
Summary of Findings in Ocular Surface and Lacrimal Gland within mice raised in conventional vivarium (CONV) or in germ-free (GF) conditions.
| Parameters | Sex | CON | GF | p Value | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| F | M | F | M | CON vs. GF | F vs. M (GF) | |||
| Ocular surface | OGD intensity (gray levels) | 241 ± 75.6 | 228.2 ± 71.5 | 344 ± 118 | 224 ± 147 | ↑, p < 0.001 (F) | F > M (p < 0.01) | |
| Goblet cell (cells/mm) | 56.5 ± 8.8 | 53.2 ± 09.5 | 46.2 ± 7.4 | 43.0 ± 7.0 | ↓, p < 0.001 (F,M) | |||
| EGF (pg/mL) | 4282 ± 1288 | 6667 ± 1787 | 2250 ± 750 | 2257 ± 167 | ↓, p < 0.05 (F,M) | |||
| LG | Total LG infiltration (%) * | 3.5 ± 3.0 | 1.38 ± 0.4 | 6.36 ± 1.7 | 4.07 ± 2.2 | ↑, p < 0.05 (F,M) | F > M (p < 0.05) | |
| CD4+ T cells (%) (flow cytometry) | 6.0 ± 2.8 | 7.5 ± 3.7 | 10.9 ± 4.2 | 11.8 ± 4.8 | ↑, p < 0.05 (F,M) | |||
| CD8+ T cells (%) (flow cytometry) | 4.63 ± 1.2 | 3.1 ± 0.9 | 10.1 ± 0.6 | 7.8 ± 2.3 | ↑, p < 0.001 (F,M) | |||
| PCR (fold) | IFN-γ | 1.00 ± 0.25 | 0.96 ± 0.11 | 2.84 ± 0.57 | 1.31 ± 0.23 | ↑, p < 0.001 (F) | F > M (p < 0.05) | |
| MHC II | 1.00 ± 0.09 | 0.92 ± 0.16 | 1.57 ± 0.10 | 0.89 ± 0.30 | ↑, p < 0.001 (F) | F > M (p < 0.05) | ||
| Caspase 3 | 1.00 ± 0.04 | 0.57 ± 0.07 | 1.51 ± 0.10 | 1.00 ± 0.08 | ↑, p < 0.001 (F) | F > M (p < 0.001) | ||
| ↑, p < 0.01 (M) | ||||||||
| IL-1β | 1.00 ± 0.21 | 0.93 ± 0.03 | 0.76 ± 0.18 | 0.61 ± 0.14 | ↓, p < 0.05 (F,M) | |||
| IL-12 | 1.00 ± 0.08 | 1.00 ± 0.07 | 2.51 ± 0.7 | 2.28 ± 0.04 | ↑, p < 0.05 (F,M) | F > M (p < 0.01) | ||
| TNF-α | 1.00 ± 0.04 | 0.29 ± 0.21 | 0.80 ± 0.10 | 0.55 ± 0.12 | Ø | Ø | ||
| Caspase 3 activity (OD) | 2355 ± 871 | 2754 ± 687 | 7499 ± 693 | 4110 ± 1201 | ↑, p < 0.001 (F) | F > M (p < 0.001) | ||
| ↑ , p < 0.01 (M) | ||||||||
OGD = Oregon-Green-Dextran; EGF = epidermal growth factor; F = female; M = male; LG = lacrimal gland; Ø = no change; * measured in histologic sections. ↑ = increase; ↓ = decrease.