Figure 7. Western blotting analyses of expression of Nrf₂, HO-1 and Bax in retinas of mice treated with NaIO₃ or NaIO₃ + TMP at three time points. A: Western blot detection of Nrf2, HO-1, and BAX protein expression levels of the three groups. B: Nrf2 expression levels increased by approximately twofold and threefold in the tetramethylpyrazine (TMP) group at day 3 and 7 post-NaIO₃ injection, respectively, when compared with the control group. The increase in the TMP group was more obvious than that in the NaIO₃-degenerated group (Group I) at day 3 and 7 post-NaIO₃ injection. C: HO-1 expression levels were approximately twofold in the TMP group at day 3 and 7 post-NaIO₃ injection when compared with those of the control group. There were statistically significant differences among the three groups at the three time points, and the expression levels in the TMP group were higher than those of Group I at day 3 and 7 post-NaIO₃ injection. D: BAX expression levels increased by approximately sixfold in the TMP group and Group I at day 3 day post-NaIO₃ injection when compared with the control group. It decreased gradually in the TMP group in the following days but remained high in Group I for 14 days. The Bax expression levels in Group I were statistically significantly higher than those of the TMP group. (n = 3,*p<0.05, **p<0.01).