Effects of thalidomide treatment on vascular density and graft surface blood flow in nu/nu mice.

<p>Forty-two days post-transplantation, after the blood flow on the graft surface was measured, the grafted kidneys were retrieved and subjected to immunohistochemistry using antibodies against Bandereira simplicifolia (BS-1) lectin. A: Representative pictures of immunostaining of islet graft (dashed line) with BS-1 (red color) at the kidney capsule of nu/nu NMRI mice treated with vehicle (A1) or thalidomide (A2). Magnification ×100 in both pictures, and ×400 in the small pictures inserted. The blood flows were calculated as the percentage of the graft flow rate to kidney surface flow rate (B, n = 6). The vascular density was quantitated as the percentage of lectin-positive area in relation to total section area (C, n = 4). ^**p<0.01 vs vehicle control graft.