Figure 3

Change in the fluorescein infiltration scores for ELG plus ILG excised mice and ELG excised mice. The graph showed the change of fluorescein infiltration score in the ELG plus ILG excised mice (OP+; blue line), sham operated mice (Sham OP; red line) and untreated mice (UT; green line) at 2, 4, 6, 8 and 10 weeks after surgery, as well as before surgery. For comparison, the data of ELG-only excised mice ((ELG) OP+; dotted blue line) and untreated controls ((ELG) OP-; dotted red line) were overlaid. The corneal fluorescein infiltration scores for ELG plus ILG excised mice (OP+; blue line) were significantly increased compared with the sham operation (Sham OP; red line) and untreated controls (UT; green line). In addition, the fluorescein infiltration score of the ELG plus ILG excised mice (OP+; blue line) was significantly increased compared with the ELG-only excised mice ((ELG) OP+; dotted blue line) at all time points. The corneal fluorescein infiltration score was assigned at each 1/3 area of the cornea (upper, intermediate, and lower) as shown in the depicted scheme. The score was categorized from 0 to 3 (0 = no fluorescence, 1 = fluorescence resembling sparse dots, 2 = dense dot-like pattern, 3 = very dense dot-like fluorescence) depending on the observation. The infiltration pattern between 0 and 1, 1 and 2, 2 and 3 were categorized as 0.5, 1.5, or 2.5, respectively. Each data point represents mean ± SEM. *** indicates statistical significance (P < 0.001) compared with sham OP by unpaired Student’s t-test or Welch’s t-test. ### indicates statistical significance (P < 0.001) between ELG plus ILG excised mice and ELG excised mice by unpaired Student’s t-test.