A representative image of periodic acid-Schiff (PAS) staining in the vehicle group is shown in Fig. 2a, while that in the α-GalCer group is shown in Fig. 2b. The percentage of glomeruli containing immune complex deposits and that of sclerotic glomeruli in the α-GalCer group were significantly lower (Fig. 2c,d). Furthermore, although the difference was not statistically significant, the percentage of glomeruli with crescents in the α-GalCer group tended to be lower than that in the vehicle group (Fig. 2e).Figure 2Kidney pathology of experimental lupus nephritis is ameliorated by treatment with alpha-galactosylceramide (α-GalCer). Representative images of periodic acid-Schiff staining of kidney slices in the (a) vehicle and (b) α-GalCer groups. Arrows, immune complex deposits; arrowhead, segmentally sclerotic area. The percentages of (c) glomeruli with immune complex deposits, (d) sclerotic glomeruli, and (e) glomeruli with crescents in each group (vehicle group; n = 5, α-GalCer group; n = 7). *p < 0.05 compared with the vehicle group.