Administration of N-Acetylcysteine to Regress the Fibrogenic and Proinflammatory Effects of Oxidative Stress in Hypertrophic Ligamentum Flavum Cells

Figure 6

Protein expression of inflammatory cytokines, intracellular signaling, and fibrotic markers under H₂O₂ treatment with or without NAC. Under 25 mM H₂O₂-induced oxidative stress for 30 min, significantly elevated protein expression levels of p-p38 and p-p65 were detected, and under 25 mM H₂O₂-induced oxidative stress for 24 h, significantly elevated protein expression levels of iNOS, TGF-β, vimentin, and collagen I were also detected. After a 30 min pretreatment with 10 mM NAC, these markers were all significantly suppressed, except for iNOS and TGF-β. In spite of statistical non-significance, iNOS and TGF-β also showed a trend of diminish with NAC administration. (; compared with the control group or H₂O₂ stimulated group; compared with the control group or H₂O₂ stimulated group; compared with the control group or H₂O₂ stimulated group; values were derived from a one-way ANOVA and Tukey’s post hoc test).

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