Fig. 5
From: T cells affect thymic involution during puberty by inducing regression of the adrenal reticularis
Dehydroepiandrosterone prevents dexamethasone-induced thymocyte death. Six-week-old BALB/c mice were treated with dexamethasone (DEX) after pretreatment with either dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) (1.6 mg/mouse) or 200 μl of 10% ethanol as a control, were killed 24 h later, and were analyzed by flow cytometry for the distribution of thymocyte subpopulations. Figures indicate percentage of cell numbers. Data were collected from 3 to 6 mice per group. The recovered cell number of CD4 and CD8 double positive cell analysis was 60.1 ± 16.1 × 106, 2.4 ± 1.0 × 106, and 16.4 ± 5.5 × 106 for the medium-, DEX-, and DHAE+DEX-groups, respectively (DEX vs. DHEA + DEX, p < 0.01)