Figure 1

Retinal histology (upper panels, A–D) and quantitative morphometric analysis of ONL thickness (lower panels, E–G) of control vs. AY9944-treated rats on various diets. Light microscopy images (resin embedment, Toluidine blue stain; 40X objective) at age PN 80 days, under the following conditions: (A) Untreated rat fed a standard rodent diet (C1 group; black); (B) AY9944-treated rat fed a CHOL-free rodent diet (AY1 group; red); (C) AY9944-treated rat fed high-CHOL diet (AY2 group; blue); and (D) AY9944-treated rat fed high-CHOL diet supplemented with antioxidants (AY3 group; green). Presumed phagosomes in RPE are denoted by white arrows. Abbreviations: RPE, retinal pigment epithelium; OS, outer segment layer; IS, inner segment layer; ONL, outer nuclear layer; INL, inner nuclear layer. Scale bar (panel A, for all panels), 20 μm. ONL thickness measurements from (E) superior hemisphere, (F) inferior hemisphere, and (G) combined mean values (both hemispheres, ±S.E.M.; n = 3–4 biological replicates, n = 10 technical replicates, each condition), along the vertical meridian. Statistical significance (one-way ANOVA): *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.005, ****p < 0.001; n.s., not significant.