Apigenin Alleviates Liver Fibrosis by Inhibiting Hepatic Stellate Cell Activation and Autophagy via TGF-β1/Smad3 and p38/PPARα Pathways

Figure 5

Apigenin could relieve hepatic fibrosis induced by CCl₄ and BDL via downregulating TGF-β1/Smad3 and p38/PPARα pathways. Notes: (a) relative TGF-β1 and PPARα mRNA levels were determined by qRT-PCR. (b) Western blot analysis of TGF-β1, Smad3, p-Smad3, p38, p-p38, and PPARα. (c) TGF-β1, p-Smad3, p-p38, and PPARα protein expressions in liver tissues are shown by immunohistochemical staining (200x). (d) Final evaluations were made using Image-Pro Plus 6.0 software to calculate the MIOD of the positive staining area. Data are presented as (; for CCl₄ (BDL) group vs. control group; ^# for CCl₄ (BDL)+apigenin (20 mg/kg) group vs. CCl₄ (BDL) group; ⁺ for CCl₄ (BDL)+apigenin (40 mg/kg) group vs. CCl₄ (BDL) group; ^! for CCl₄ (BDL)+apigenin (40 mg/kg) group vs. CCl₄ (BDL)+apigenin (20 mg/kg) group). Abbreviation: MIOD: mean of integrate optical density.

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