Figure 1. BOL-303242-X demonstrates similar activity as dexamethasone (DEX) in reducing IL-1ß-induced cytokine release from human conjunctival fibroblasts. Cells were pretreated with BOL-303242-X or DEX for 2 h, and then further treated for 18 h with vehicle (0.1% DMSO), IL-1ß, BOL-303242-X, DEX, or combinations of them. Cytokine content in the conditioned media was determined by Luminex. Data are means±SEM or geometric means±SE estimated by the Taylor Series expansion for the MCP-1 data; n=3. The asterisk indicates a p≤0.05 versus that for IL-1ß. The dagger indicates a p≤0.05 versus BOL-303242-X at same concentration. Statistical analysis was performed using two-way ANOVA followed by the Tukey-Kramer test on raw data for G-CSF and IL-8. Data were elevated to the power of 0.4 for IL-6 and by taking the logarithm of MCP-1 data. A Student’s t-test was used to determine whether IL-1ß was effective at increasing cytokine release. The solid bar is statistically significant versus the gray bar at increasing cytokine release.