Fig. 2.

Therapeutic effect of fullerenol or GSH on the injuried area of corneal damage caused by the UVB radiation in rats. A) Schematic diagram of UVB radiation-induced corneal injury and treatment with 25 μg/mL fullerenol and 6.8 μg/mL GSH (the same molar concentration). The rat cornea was irradiated with UVB for 5 days to establish the model. B₁-E₄) The representative images of corneal damages under cobalt blue light of control, UVB, GSH + UVB, fullerenol + UVB group investigated by fluorescein sodium staining respectively. B₁–B₄) The control group was observed on days 0, 5, 9 and 16 respectively after treatment. C₁–C₄) The UVB group. D₁-D₄) The UVB + GSH group. E₁-E₄) The UVB + fullerenol group, all were observed on days 0, 5, 9 and 16 respectively after treatment. F) Quantitative comparison of relative damaged area of central corneal in different groups. G) Comparison of the injured area between fullerenol and GSH treatment for 16 days (n = 3 eyes/group). The above detections were implemented in three independent experiments. Data were expressed as the mean ± SEM from three independent experiments. **P < 0.01, ****P < 0.0001 using one-way ANOVA and post-hoc Tukey's test. (For interpretation of the references to colour in this figure legend, the reader is referred to the Web version of this article.)