Figure 1. Effects of mapracorat and dexamethasone on spontaneous eosinophil apoptosis. A: Peripheral human blood eosinophils cultured up to 48 h in 0.1% fetal bovine serum (FBS) and in the absence of granulocyte-macrophage colony stimulating factor and interleukin-5 show time-dependent apoptosis. Mapracorat and dexamethasone (0.001–10 μM) or their vehicle were added for 48 h. Control cells (Ctrl) were cultured in RPMI+10% FBS. Mifepristone (10 μM) was co-incubated with mapracorat or dexamethasone (5 or 10 μM). Apoptosis was determined by flow cytometry, evaluating the cell’s ability to bind annexin V and exclude propidium iodide as described under Methods. Results are expressed as percentages of apoptotic cells. Data are presented as mean±standard error of the mean from six experiments performed in triplicate using different eosinophil cell cultures. *Versus controls; p value (p)<0.05. **Versus controls; p<0.01. ^#Versus vehicle; p<0.01. ^##Versus mapracorat or dexamethasone 5 or 10 μM; p<0.01. ^§Versus dexamethasone at the same concentration; p<0.01. B: A representative experiment showing total percentage of apoptotic eosinophils (annexin V⁺/propidium iodide- and annexin V⁺/propidium iodide+ cells). Abbreviations: Ctrl represents controls; 0.1 FBS represents 0.1% fetal bovine serum; MF represents mifepristone; Dex represents dexamethasone; Map represents mapracorat.