Etifoxine, a TSPO Ligand, Worsens Hepatitis C-Related Insulin Resistance but Relieves Lipid Accumulation

Figure 7

Effect of etifoxine on lipid accumulation. (a and b) Cells (4 × 10³) were infected with HCV and treated with 1 μM of etifoxine for 6 days. Cells were fixed with paraformaldehyde on day 6, stained with neutral lipid dye BODIPY, counterstained with DAPI, and then observed under confocal laser scanning microscope. Scale bar: 20 μM. The AU of immunofluorescence intensity normalized with the number of cells were assessed using Image J. Eight fields per each group were randomly chosen and each field, containing approximately 15-20 cells, was amplified 40 fold. (c) Cells (2 × 10⁴) were fixed with formaldehyde, stained with oil red O solution on day 6, added with IGEPAL-CA-630, and then determined by ELISA reader. Data are expressed as mean ±SD obtained from three individual experiments. < 0.05 and < 0.01 vs. the medium control group; ^#p < 0.05 and ^##p < 0.01 vs. the HCV-infected Huh 7.5-SEAP group.

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