AT7519 drives eosinophil apoptosis and subsequent clearance by macrophages as assessed by morphological analysis.

<p>(A) Schematic representation of the experimental protocol. Immunized mice were challenged with OVA and 24 h later received AT7519 or vehicle. Eosinophil number (B), percentage of apoptotic eosinophils (C) and percentage of macrophages containing apoptotic bodies (D) were assed 2, 4 and 6 h after AT7519 treatment. Results are expressed as the mean ± SEM of at least five mice in each group. (B-D) *P<0.05, **P<0.01, ***P<0.001 when compared with vehicle-treated, OVA-injected mice. Representative images from vehicle (E) and AT7519 treated (F) animals are shown (Magnification x400 (i) and x1000 (ii and iii)). In vehicle treated animals (E), black arrows indicate healthy, viable eosinophils while in AT7519-treated animals (F), black arrows indicate typically apoptotic eosinophils and white arrows apoptotic cells inside macrophages.