Figure 4. CDDO-Me ameliorates hepatic fibrosis in CDAHFD-fed mice
(a) Hepatic sections stained with Sirius red or anti-αSMA antibody. Scale bars show 100 μm (upper panels) and 20 μm (lower panels). (b) Hydroxyproline levels measured in the livers (mean + S.D., n = 8). (c-e) mRNA expression of Acta2 (c), Col1a1 (d), and Tgfb(e) determined using quantitative PCR (mean + S.D., n = 8). Statistical differences were analysed using Dunnett’s multiple comparison test (*P < 0.05; **P < 0.01; ***P < 0.001, ****P < 0.0001, versus vehicle-treated CDAHFD-fed mice). (f) αSMA and Vinculin protein levels determined by immunoblotting. (g) The densitometric analysis of Figure. 4f was normalized to Vinculin levels (mean + S.D., triplicate). Cont, Control; Veh, Vehicle.
Figure 5. Whole-transcriptome analysis reveals that CDDO-Me inhibits recruitment of immune cells in NASH mice
(a) (left panel) Volcano plot showing the expressions of all transcripts in the livers, where 2625 genes are upregulated (red) and 167 genes are downregulated (blue) in CDAHFD-fed mice. (right panel) Volcano plot shows the expressions of 2625 genes upregulated in the left panel, and the 22 genes upregulated (red) and 195 genes downregulated (blue) by CDDO-Me treatment in CDAHFD-fed mice (b) Venn diagram shows the numbers of upregulated and downregulated genes by CDDO-Me treatment in CDAHFD-fed mice. (c) The expression of 195 genes downregulated by CDDO-Me among the upregulated genes in CDAHFD-fed mice are shown on the heatmap. (d) The graphical summary obtained by Ingenuity Pathway Analysis using 195 genes in Figure 5c. (e) The top five pathways detected by Ingenuity Pathway Analysis using 195 genes in Figure. 5c are shown on the bar graph.