Figure 3.

Effects of TIM-4 mAb on polypoid lesion formation in the NP murine model. (A) The protocol for the NP murine model. WT mice were sensitized by an i.p. of either PBS or 25 µg of OVA in 2 mg aluminum hydroxide. Then, WT mice were treated with 6% OVA and 10 ng SEB by i.n. administration to induce nasal polyposis, and TIM-4 mAb and dexamethasone were administered to the experimental group. (B–E) The effects of TIM-4 mAb on polypoid lesion formation. (B) Representative polypoid lesions and typical sinonasal mucosa stained by H&E. Morphology and numbers of goblet cells stained by PAS. The criteria for polypoid lesions were described in the methods section and represented with red circles. (C) OVA-specific IgE levels in serum were detected by ELISA. (D) Quantitative summary of the number of polypoid lesions. (E) Quantitative summary of the number of goblet cells. PBS group: n=6; OVA+SEB group: n=7; OVA+SEB+TIM-4 mAb group: n=5; OVA+SEB+DXM group: n=6; TIM-4 monoclonal antibody: TIM-4 mAb; dexamethasone: DXM; Intraperitoneal: i.p.; intranasal: i.n.; intravenous: i.v. H&E pictures are shown at a magnification of 40×, and PAS, IHC, and immunofluorescence representative pictures are shown at a magnification of 400×. The insets show a higher magnification of the selected area. Bars show the mean ± SD. *P<0.05, **P<0.01, ***P<0.001.