Figure 1.

Alprazolam reduces islet cell apoptosis in human islet xenografts. Mice receiving human islet grafts were treated IP with vehicle or alprazolam (0.25 or 0.75 mg/kg/day IP) and/or GABA through their drinking water (6 mg/ml) or water alone. The frequency of apoptotic cells in the different groups of recipients was determined by TUNEL and anti-insulin staining assays. All control and experimental groups were tested side by side. Data are a representative image (magnification ×400) or expressed as the mean % of apoptotic islet cells ± SEM of each group (n = 4-6 mice) from four islet donors in four separate experiments (with one islet donor for each experiment). (a) A representative image of apoptotic islet cells (red) and insulin⁺β-cells (green) in human islet grafts. Scale bar = 25 μm. (b) Frequency of apoptotic cells. (c) Frequency of insulin⁺β-cells. White arrows indicate apoptotic cells. ^∗p < 0.05, ^∗∗p < 0.01, and ^∗∗∗p < 0.001 vs. the control with vehicle injection and plain water. ^#p < 0.05 vs. GABA treated. ^†p < 0.05 vs. the alprazolam (0.25 mg/kg/day) and ^‡p < 0.05 vs. the alprazolam (0.75 mg/kg/day).