Fig. 6

The effect of low (0.5 mg/ml) and high (1 mg/ml) doses of subcutaneous bleomycin injections on dermal thickness, collagen content and number of myofibroblasts in the skin of male C57BL/6 mice subjected to bleomycin on alternate days for 3 weeks. a Representative images of H&E-stained sections of male C57BL/6 mouse skin treated with subcutaneous NaCl or bleomycin injections (0.5 mg/ml or 1 mg/ml) given every other day for 3 weeks. Original magnification ×100. b Dermal thickness of male C57BL/6 mouse skin treated with subcutaneous NaCl or bleomycin injections (0.5 mg/ml or 1 mg/ml) given every other day for 3 weeks. Four high-power field images were taken (two measurements per image). Results represent the relative fold-change compared to NaCl-treated control mice. c Representative images of Masson’s Trichrome-stained sections of mouse skin harvested after 3 weeks of treatment with NaCl or bleomycin injections (0.5 mg/ml or 1 mg/ml) given every other day for 3 weeks. Original magnification ×100. d Hydroxyproline content in skin treated with low or high (0.5 mg/ml or 1 mg/ml) doses of bleomycin. Results are represented as means ± standard error of the mean (SEM) of triplicate measurements obtained from six mice (two biopsies per mouse) and shown as relative fold-change compared to NaCl-treated control samples. e Representative images of alpha smooth muscle actin (α-SMA) immunohistochemical analysis in skin from mice treated with subcutaneous NaCl or bleomycin injections (0.5 mg/ml or 1 mg/ml) given every other day for 3 weeks. Original magnification ×200, inset ×630. f Relative number of α-SMA-positive cells in the dermis of mice treated with NaCl or bleomycin (0.5 mg/ml vs 1 mg/ml) on alternate days. Results represent the relative fold-change compared to NaCl-treated control mice. All values represent means ± SEM; n = 6 in each group