The Herbal Constituents in An-Gong-Niu-Huang Wan (AGNH) Protect against Cinnabar- and Realgar-Induced Hepatorenal Toxicity and Accumulations of Mercury and Arsenic in Mice

Figure 1

AGNH’s herbal constituents alleviate hepatorenal impairment induced by cinnabar and realgar (C + R) in mice. Mice received saline (vehicle), AGNH (2.5 g/kg), as well as C + R (0.14 g/kg + 0.14 g/kg) orally once daily for 4 weeks, respectively. (a) Representative immunostaining images of MT-1 and KIM-1 in the hepatic and renal sections of mice. Scale bar: 100 μm. (b), (c) Semiquantitative immunohistochemical analysis of MT-1 and KIM-1 in the respective group. (d) WB analysis of MT-1 and KIM-1 levels in the hepatorenal tissues. The level of housekeeping protein β-actin was referred as a control for equal protein loading. (e), (f) Band intensities were converted to arbitrary densitometric units (ADUs), normalized by the value of β-actin, and finally expressed according to the levels in saline-treated mice (defined as 1-fold). Each bar represents mean ± standard deviation (SD) from six mice. compared to the saline control group; compared to the C + R coadministration group.

(a)

(b)

(c)

(d)

(e)

(f)