Systemic Administration of Neutral Electrolyzed Saline as a Novel Treatment for Rheumatoid Arthritis Reduces Mechanical and Inflammatory Damage to the Joints: Preclinical Evaluation in Mice

Table 2

Intergroup comparison of renal and hepatic histological findings.

Parameter	Placebo, median (Q1–Q3), N = 10 in each group	NES	value^†
Renal histological findings
Tubular necrosis (%); Tubular atrophy (%); Interstitial infiltrate inflammatory cells (%); Tubulointerstitial fibrosis (%)	0.0 (0.0–0.0); 0.0 (0.0–0.0); 5.0 (5.0–10.0); 0.0 (0.0–0.0)	0.0 (0.0–0.0); 0.0 (0.0–0.0); 0.0 (5.0–5.0); 0.0 (0.0–0.0)	1.000; 1.000; 0.089; 1.000
Liver histological findings
Hepatocytes (n); Inflammatory cells (n); Steatohepatitis (%); Necrosis (%); Hepatic ballooning (n); Hepatic binucleation (n)	59.5 (41.7–77.2); 45.0 (40.0–51.2); 75.0 (65.0–87.5); 47.5 (34.4–60.0); 11.0 (1.7–19.0); 6.0 (3.7–9.0)	69.5 (46.7–82.7); 46.0 (41.0–55.2); 55.0 (37.5–70.0); 35.0 (22.5–50.0); 0.0 (0.0–4.0); 7.0 (4.0–10.2)	0.028; 0.369; 0.001; 0.001; 0.001; 0.029
Organ weight
Right kidney; Left kidney; Liver	0.23 (0.17–0.25); 0.22 (0.15–0.26); 1.58 (1.49–1.76)	0.15 (0.14–0.25); 0.15 (0.14–0.26); 1.23 (1.21–1.79)	0.404; 0.343; 0.226

NES : neutral electrolyzed saline; Q1 and Q3: 25th and 75th percentiles.^∗Percentage of findings in the renal cortex. Per histological field 40x. Weight expressed in grams. ^†Mann–Whitney U-test. Statistical significance: . Two-tailed P values are shown.