Figure 7

Q-GRFT treatment did not affect the magnitude or distribution of CD4⁺ cells. (a) Immunofluorescent images showing CD4⁺ cells (green) and 4′,6-diamidino-2-phenylindole (DAPI) nuclear staining (blue). Images to the left show a selected tissue area at 20× magnification (scale bar = 100 µm), and the images to the right show the selected tissue (within the white rectangle) at 40× magnification (scale bar = 50 µm). Representative images were selected based on median percentage of CD4⁺ LP cells. Graphs displaying the median percentage of CD4⁺ cells in the two study groups within (b) the LP compartment and (c) the EP compartment. (d) The graphs show the average distance from the epithelial barrier to the CD4⁺ cells in the LP in each study group. All graphs show both the grouped analysis (right) and comparison of the different timepoints for the placebo (orange; n = 4) and Q-GRFT (grey; n = 11) (left). All data are presented as the median values from the participant data. Statistical significance was determined using the Friedman test, followed by Dunn's post-hoc test, when comparing results between the different timepoints. The Mann Whitney U test was used for comparisons between the Q-GRFT and placebo groups. Abbreviations: LP, lamina propria; BL, baseline; 1 h and 24 h represent the hours after application of the rectal douche (either Q-GRFT or placebo).