Fig. 2

Effect of SHED on nasal inflammation. A The nasal symptoms were evaluated by the number of sneezing and rubbing events in 10 min after the final challenge. Nasal symptoms in the OVA group were much more serious than those in the control group and sham-SHED group but were relieved after SHED and BMMSC treatment. B, C Twenty-four hours after the last challenge, HE staining, PAS staining, and IHC were used to reflect the inflammatory infiltration in the nasal mucosa. The numbers of eosinophils were evaluated under a light microscope (× 400 magnification). Nearly no inflammatory cells were observed in the control group (a) and sham-SHED group (b). In contrast, the OVA group (c) exhibited obvious eosinophil infiltration, goblet cell hyperplasia, and T lymphocyte infiltration. The inflammatory infiltration in the SHED group (d) and BMMSC group (e) was significantly alleviated compared with the OVA group, and the eosinophil count in the SHED group was lower than that of the BMMSC group. Data are expressed as the mean ± SD (n = 6 in each group) from three representative experiments. ***p < .001