Figure 2
From: Titanium dioxide particle – induced goblet cell hyperplasia : association with mast cells and IL-13
Light microscopic analysis of the trachea and the percentage of Muc5ac, PAS (+) epithelial cells. Rats were treated intratracheally with saline or TiO2, and the tracheas were prepared for morphometric analysis of PAS (+) and Muc5ac (+) cells as described in Methods. A. Histology of trachea 24 hr after saline or TiO2 treatment. PAS (+) cells were stained red whereas Muc5ac (+) cells dark brown. Note that the trachea obtained from the saline-treated group contained little or no PAS (+) (Aa) or Muc5ac (+) cells (Ab) while the trachea from TiO2-treated group contains significant number of PAS (+) (Ac) and Muc5ac (+) cells (Ad). B. Time (4, 24, 48,72 h) dependent change in the percentage of Muc5ac (+) cells following saline (open bar, n = 8) or TiO2 treatment (closed bar, n = 8). Note that the percentage of PAS (+) cells was similar to that of Muc5ac (+) cells at 48 hr after TiO2 instillation. * p < 0.05, ** p < 0.01 as compared with the saline treated group.