Figure 2A shows the IOP of individual mice (
Table 1, study 4) treated for 3 weeks with either PBS (
n = 9) or DEX (
n = 20). No significant change from baseline IOP was observed in PBS-treated mice (
Table 1). In DEX-treated mice, IOP increased from a baseline of 14.9 mm Hg ± 1.1 (SD) to 18.3 mm Hg ± 2.2 (
P < 0.0001; paired
t-test;
n = 20), representing a 23% increase in IOP. The difference in IOP between the DEX-treated mice and the PBS-treated mice was also significantly different at 4 weeks (
P = 0.001; Student's
t-test). Blood pressure was measured in these mice at the conclusion of the in-life study. Mice receiving PBS exhibited blood pressure ranges within the historical range for this B6.129 strain.
19 Mice treated with DEX for 3 weeks exhibited a significant increase in blood pressure compared with PBS-treated animals (
Fig. 2B;
P < 0.0001; Student's
t-test). The mean systolic blood pressure in the DEX group (
n = 20) was 141.5 mm Hg ± 15.5 (SD) compared with 113.9 mm Hg ± 10.3 (SD) in the PBS group (
n = 9). Therefore, DEX therapy increased blood pressure approximately 20% during the 3-week treatment. Similar to IOP distribution, the range of blood pressure measurements overlapped in PBS- and DEX-treated groups. In
Figure 2A, the IOP measurements of four mice in the DEX treatment group are clearly within the IOP range of PBS-treated mice. Their IOP values were 15.7, 15.3, 15.0, and 14.7 mm Hg, suggesting these mice could be classified as steroid nonresponders. Their blood pressures were of 134.8, 133.3, 173.8, and 150.6 mm Hg, respectively. Although increased blood pressure could contribute to elevated IOP, there was no statistical correlation (Pearson's
r = −0.39;
P = 0.093) between IOP change and blood pressure in the mice treated with DEX (
Fig. 2C).