Figure 8
Airway remodeling is reduced in experimental chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) by therapeutic neutralization of tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL). Wild-type mice were exposed to cigarette smoke (CS) or normal air for twelve weeks and treated with neutralizing anti-TRAIL monoclonal or isotype control antibodies, intraperitoneally three times per week, from weeks 7 to 12. (a) Small airway epithelial thickness in terms of epithelial cell area (μm2) per basement membrane (BM) perimeter (μm) was determined in periodic acid-Schiff (PAS)-stained lung sections. (b) The number of epithelial cells in PAS-stained lung sections was assessed by enumerating the number of nuclei per 100 μm BM perimeter. (c) Area of collagen deposition (μm2) per BM perimeter (μm) in Masson’s Trichrome-stained lung sections. Data (n=5–6) presented as means±s.e.m. are representative of two independent experiments. **P<0.01; ****P<0.0001 compared with anti-TRAIL or isotype normal air-exposed controls. #P<0.05; ###P<0.001 compared with isotype-treated CS-exposed controls.
