Fig. 4

Investigation of the effect of neurological deficit severity in dogs with intervertebral disc herniation

Comparison of Th17-, Treg cell levels and Th17/Treg ratio between dogs with paresis and plegia in the acute stage of the disease ("acute") and after recovery of intervertebral disc herniation ("outcome")

Each graphic (a,b,c) is composed of four boxplots. The first (grey) and second (light blue) boxplot display data of dogs with paresis at the time points "acute" (first boxplot) and "outcome" (second boxplot). The third (yellow) and the fourth (green) one show data from dogs with plegia at the time "acute" (third boxplot) and "outcome" (fourth boxplot)

"acute" = acute stage of disease before treatment of IVDH

"outcome" = after recovery, on average 14 months after disc surgery

a) Th17 cells in absolute cell count/µl: Significant difference in dogs with paresis between the time point “acute” and "outcome" (p = 0.0019). No significant difference in dogs with plegia between the time point “acute” and "outcome" (p = 0.9994)

b) Treg cells in absolute cell count/µl: Significant difference in dogs with paresis between the time point "acute" and "outcome" (p < 0.0001). No significant difference in dogs with plegia between the time "acute" and "outcome" (p = 0.6305)

c) Th17/Treg ratio: No significant differences neither in dogs with paresis between the time points “acute” and "outcome" (p = 0.4539) nor in dogs with plegia (p = 0.8226). The ratio 227.9 at the time point outcome was excluded from the graphic representation