Figure 5

Hepatic expression mediators implicated in the fibrogenic process. Hepatic gene expression of (a) inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), (b) endothelin 1 (ET-1), transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β), (c) platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) and (d) monocyte chemotactic protein-1 (MCP-1), in healthy rats (CT), in pre-ascitic cirrhotic rats (CH^Basal) and in rats receiving the vehicle (CH^Vehicle) or 10 mg/kg/day of the cannabinoid type 1-antagonist Rimonabant (CH^Rimonabant) for 2 additional weeks. Values were determined by real-time PCR and expressed as fold induction over control healthy rats. (e) Densitometric quantification (upper) and representative image (lower) of western blot analysis of hepatic transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β). Data are expressed as mean±s.e.