Journal: Nature Communications

Article Title: Topical tacrolimus for the treatment of secondary lymphedema

doi: 10.1038/ncomms14345

Figure Lengend Snippet: ( a ) Representative photographs of mouse tails after surgical excision of superficial/deep collecting lymphatics and treatment with or without topical tacrolimus beginning either 2 weeks (early treatment) or 6 weeks (late treatment) after surgery. Images represent 4 weeks of treatment in the early group and 3 weeks of treatment in the late group. ( b ) Graphical representation of tail volume changes after early (* P =0.021) or late (* P =0.018) treatment with tacrolimus, as compared with controls (red arrows indicate timing of treatment) ( n =8/group). ( c ) Representative cross-sectional histological images (upper panel) of control and early tacrolimus-treated mouse tails harvested 6 weeks after lymphatic ablation. Brackets show soft tissue thickness. Quantification of soft tissue changes (lower panel) after early or late treatment with tacrolimus (* P ≤0.001) ( n =8/group). ( d ) Quantification of whole-blood tacrolimus levels demonstrating immunosuppressive concentrations in systemically treated animals (4 mg kg −1 intraperitoneally daily) and non-immunosuppressive levels in the topically treated group (* P =0.007; n =6/group). ( e ) Representative flow cytometry plots displaying side scatter area (SSA) on the y axis and CD3 + cells (T cells) on the x axis for animals retreated with vehicle control, topical tacrolimus or systemic tacrolimus. ( f ) Quantification of blood T cells for each group. Note significant reduction in T cells only in systemically treated animals (* P =0.012; n =6/group). Experiments were repeated two to three times. All data represent mean±s.d. with P ≤0.05 considered as significant. Two-tailed Student's t -test ( c , d ) and analysis of variance (ANOVA) with post hoc tests ( b , f ).

Article Snippet: Rabbit anti-human/mouse CD3 (A0452; 1:300; Dako, Carpinteria, CA) and Cy3-conjugated mouse anti-αSMA (C6-198; 1:1,000; Sigma-Aldrich).

Techniques: Flow Cytometry, Two Tailed Test