Figure 2

Morphometric analysis of the retina and optic nerve in the experimental groups. In the retina, the OPL layer almost disappears in 2VO animal 8 days after surgery (A; Student-t test: ***p < 0.0001). A reduction in the number of ganglion cells 75 days after surgery was also found (B, Student's t test: *p < 0.05). The atrophic effect of ligation is shown as reduction of the optic nerve diameter (C; one-way ANOVA and post hoc Tukey's test: ^##p < 0.001). The semiquantitative analysis of relative immunoreactive area for the betaIII-Tubulin (D) shows a strong reduction at 8, 30 and 75 days after ligation (one-way ANOVA and post hoc Tukey's test: ^#p < 0.05, ^##p < 0.001), such as the analysis of MBP (E, one-way ANOVA and post hoc Tukey's test: ^#p < 0.05; ^##p < 0.001). Abbreviations: ONL: outer nuclear layer; OPL: outer plexiform layer; INL: inner nuclear layer; IPL: inner plexiform layer;GCL: ganglion cell layer.