Shikonin Attenuates Concanavalin A-Induced Acute Liver Injury in Mice via Inhibition of the JNK Pathway

Figure 3

Effects of shikonin on the production of IL-1β, TNF-α, and IFN-γ in mice with ConA-induced acute hepatitis. (a) The levels of serum TNF-α, IL-1β, and IFN-γ, measured with ELISAs were reduced by shikonin pretreatment in mice at doses of both 7.5 mg/kg and 12.5 mg/kg. Data are presented as means ± SD (, for NC versus ConA, for ConA + shikonin (7.5) versus ConA, and for ConA + shikonin (12.5) versus ConA). (b) The mRNA levels of IL-1β, TNF-α, and IFN-γ were evaluated in each group with real-time PCR (, for NC versus ConA, for ConA + shikonin (7.5) versus ConA, and for ConA + shikonin (12.5) versus ConA). (c) The expression levels of the IL-1β, TNF-α, and IFN-γ proteins were determined with western blotting and the gray values were calculated (, for NC versus ConA, for ConA + shikonin (7.5) versus ConA, and for ConA + shikonin (12.5) versus ConA). (d) Immunohistochemistry staining (×200) showing the expression of IL-1β, TNF-α, and IFN-γ in liver tissue at 6 h. The ratio of brown area to total area was analyzed with Image-Pro Plus 6.0 (, for NC versus ConA, for ConA versus ConA + shikonin).

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