The Protective Effect of N-Acetylcysteine on Ionizing Radiation Induced Ovarian Failure and Loss of Ovarian Reserve in Female Mouse

Figure 6

Apoptosis analysis in ovarian granule cells. (A) Immunohistochemical localization of cytochrome c. (a, b) Sections in control and NAC treatment group showed weak cytochrome c expression. (c) X-irradiation increased the cytochrome c expression. (d) NAC pretreatment limited the cytochrome c formation. Scale bar, 20 μm. (B) Immunohistochemical localization of caspase 3. (a, b) Sections in control and NAC treatment group showed minimum degree of caspase 3 expression. (c) X-irradiation increased the caspase 3 expression. (d) NAC pretreatment limited the caspase 3 expression. Scale bar, 20 μm. (C, D) Quantitative image analysis for IHC staining of cytochrome c and caspase 3, respectively, expressed as mean density in each group. Each column represents the mean ± SD of at least three independent experiments. ( versus control; versus X-irradiation group).