Table 2.

Effect of CXL on VEGF, MMP-2, MMP-9, and TIMP-1 expression after corneal alkali burns.

Group	n	Day 7 after alkali burn				Day 14 after alkali burn
		VEGF	MMP-2	MMP-9	TIMP-1	VEGF	MMP-2	MMP-9	TIMP-1
A	5	0.44 ± 0.21	0.42 ± 0.16	0.17 ± 0.14	0.27 ± 0.11	0.68 ± 0.29	0.63 ± 0.14	0.52 ± 0.29	0.58 ± 0.26
B	5	0.50 ± 0.17	0.45 ± 0.07	0.71 ± 0.09∗	0.60 ± 0.17	0.27 ± 0.12∗	0.31 ± 0.20∗	0.39 ± 0.17	0.42 ± 0.13
C	5	0.43 ± 0.16	0.54 ± 0.21	0.61 ± 0.15∗	0.42 ± 0.12	0.38 ± 0.17∗	0.47 ± 0.12	0.45 ± 0.22	0.37 ± 0.07
D	5	0.40 ± 0.27	0.53 ± 0.13	0.43 ± 0.20∗	0.53 ± 0.22∗	0.35 ± 0.08∗	0.40 ± 0.09∗	0.39 ± 0.16	0.46 ± 0.17
E	5	0.39 ± 0.19	0.49 ± 0.10	0.45 ± 0.14∗	0.44 ± 0.24	0.38 ± 0.16∗	0.36 ± 0.06∗	0.40 ± 0.14	0.38 ± 0.15
F	5	0.50 ± 0.26	0.51 ± 0.18	0.55 ± 0.14∗	0.58 ± 0.10∗	0.33 ± 0.15∗	0.46 ± 0.20	0.42 ± 0.11	0.53 ± 0.14
F		0.239	0.481	7.751	2.511	2.742	3.004	0.376	1.373
P		0.941	0.787	0.00	0.058	0.043	0.03	0.86	0.27

LSD-t comparison was conducted. ^∗means P < 0.05 compared to Group A.