Figure 5
Treatment with dexamethasone alone or in combination with raloxifene reduces the B cell frequency in bone marrow of arthritic mice. Female sham-operated (n = 10) or ovariectomy (OVX) mice treated with vehicle (Veh; n = 9), raloxifene (Ral; n = 10), dexamethasone (Dex; n = 9), or a combination of both Dex and Ral (n = 9) were used. Treatment was administered five days per week, started after the first appearance of arthritis (day 22) and continued until the termination of the experiment (day 49). Flow cytometry analysis of bone marrow cells was performed in order to investigate the effects of treatment on different lymphocyte phenotypes. Bone marrow cells from one femur were harvested and labelled with antibodies against (a) CD19, (b) CD3, (c) CD4, or (d) CD8. Scatter plots of individual data are presented and bars indicate the median in each group. The non-parametric Kruskall-Wallis test with post hoc comparison was used for statistical evaluation of all parameters, *P<0.05, **P<0.01, ***P<0.001.