At 21 days after transplantation, we measured the expression of Th1-, Th2-, and Th17-related proinflammatory cytokines in corneas from the control, RvE1, and syngeneic groups, using quantitative real-time PCR. Compared with the syngeneic group, the corneal expression of IL-1α, IL-1β, TNF-α, IL-2, IFN-γ, IL-17A, IL-17F, IL-21, and IL-22 was significantly increased in the control groups (
P < 0.05;
Figs. 5A,
5B). RvE1 treatment significantly reduced the expression of these cytokines in the cornea (
P < 0.05;
Figs. 5A,
5B). In contrast, RvE1 treatment significantly increased the corneal expression of IL-4 (
P < 0.05), reduced the corneal expression of IL-6 and IL-13 (
P < 0.05), and did not alter the expression of IL-5 (
P > 0.05) compared with the control group (
Fig. 5C). Moreover, we examined the production of Th1-, Th2-, and Th17-related cytokines in the corneas in the control, RvE1, and syngeneic groups at 3 weeks using CBA Mouse Th1/Th2/Th17 Kit. The production of IL-2, IL-6, TNF, IFN-γ, and IL-17A in the control group was significantly increased compared with the syngeneic group (
P < 0.05), and was significantly decreased compared with the RvE1 group (
P < 0.05;
Fig. 5D). The expression of IL-4 and IL-10 was not significantly different among groups (
Fig. 5D).