Fig. 3

Effect of liposomal clodronate Clophosome-A injection into the trigeminal ganglion in rats with tooth pulp inflammation. a Time course of the experimental procedure for the group administered liposomal clodronate Clophosome-A (LCCA) into the trigeminal ganglion immediately preceding head withdrawal threshold measurement in rats with tooth pulp exposure (Tooth pulp exposure + Immediate LCCA). b Time course of the experimental procedure for the groups administered vehicle or LCCA into the trigeminal ganglion of rats with sham or tooth pulp exposure procedures. c Head withdrawal threshold to heat or mechanical stimulation of the ipsilateral tongue following vehicle or LCCA injection into the trigeminal ganglion of rats with sham or tooth pulp exposure procedures. The two-way repeated-measures ANOVA followed by Tukey–Kramer post hoc tests were used to compare head withdrawal thresholds between groups. d Photographs of the change in Iba1 expression in the trigeminal ganglion following administration of vehicle or LCCA into the trigeminal ganglion of rats with sham or tooth pulp exposure procedures. Scale bar, 100 μm. e Fluorogold-labeled toll-like receptor 4-IR and IL-1RI-IR cells in the trigeminal ganglion following administration of vehicle or LCCA into the trigeminal ganglion of rats with sham or tooth pulp exposure procedure. The arrowheads indicate fluorogold-labeled toll-like receptor 4-IR and IL-1RI-IR cells. Scale bar, 100 μm. f The number of each IR cell type in the trigeminal ganglion of the third branch region was calculated by using the following formula: fluorogold-labeled toll-like receptor 4-IR and IL-1RI-IR cells/fluorogold-labeled cells × 100%. The one-way repeated-measures ANOVA followed by Tukey’s post hoc test was employed for the comparison of the percentages of positive cells between groups. Data are expressed as the mean ± SEM. g The pie graph for the percentages of toll-like receptor 4-IR, IL-1RI-IR, and merged cells in the trigeminal ganglion