Table 1 Experiment 1: Comparison of corneal nerve parameters and immune cell densities in eyes with different topical treatments after 1 week

Decorin # Gel

Gel # Contralateral

Contrast (95% CI)

p value

Contrast (95% CI)

p value

Contrast (95% CI)

p value

p value

p value

Central cornea

 SNT (μm)

402.1 (49.0, 755.2)

0.027

277.0 (− 125.3, 679.3)

0.166

− 103.2 (− 456.4, 249.9)

0.552

0.840

0.249

 SBNP (μm)

1350.0 (427.3, 2272.7)

0.006

152.9 (− 871.6, 1177.3)

0.758

159.6 (− 763.1, 1082.3)

0.725

0.155

0.687

 DCs (cells/mm²)

0.3 (− 1.9, 2.6)

0.781

− 1.8 (− 4.2, 0.6)

0.138

0.0 (− 2.3, 2.2)

0.968

0.301

0.469

 Macrophages (cells/mm²)

− 72.6 (− 109.2, − 36.1)

< 0.001

16.1 (− 25.7, 58.0)

0.430

− 52.0 (− 88.5, − 15.4)

0.007

0.925

0.787

 Ki67+ (cells/mm²)

265.1 (− 126.9, 657.0)

0.177

− 22.6 (− 446.2, 401.0)

0.912

− 41.2 (− 433.2, 350.7)

0.831

0.103

0.557

Peripheral cornea

 SNT (μm)

109.9 (− 181.4, 401.2)

0.446

221.5 (− 102.0, 545.0)

0.168

− 26.5 (− 317.8, 264.8)

0.853

0.253

0.801

 SBNP (μm)

475.4 (− 706.4, 1657.2)

0.414

413.9 (− 958.6, 1786.5)

0.535

149.5 (− 1032.3, 1331.3)

0.796

0.530

0.851

 DCs (cells/mm²)

0.0 (− 3.9, 4.0)

0.984

0.9 (− 3.5, 5.3)

0.670

− 1.3 (− 5.2, 2.7)

0.523

0.108

0.713

 Macrophages (cells/mm²)

− 45.7 (− 70.9, − 20.4)

0.001

14.7 (− 13.5, 43.0)

0.288

− 42.9 (− 68.1, − 17.6)

0.002

0.855

0.695

 Ki67+ (cells/mm²)

63.6 (− 253.2, 380.5)

0.684

− 150.3 (− 495.8, 195.2)

0.373

83.2 (− 233.7, 400.0)

0.595

0.224

0.095

Corneal thickness at apex

 Epithelium (μm)

0.7 (− 1.0, 2.4)

0.400

1.3 (− 0.6, 3.3)

0.170

1.1 (− 0.6, 2.9)

0.193

0.910

0.727

 Stroma (μm)

0.2 (− 2.6, 3.1)

0.868

− 1.8 (− 5.1, 1.5)

0.259

1.7 (− 1.2, 4.6)

0.231

0.189

0.054