Fig. 6

The anti-inflammatory and anti-fibrotic effects of 5-MTP in vivo. a The level of 5-MTP in the different tissues in UUO mice. *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01 compared with sham group (n = 6). b H&E and Masson trichrome staining of kidney tissues of UUO mice. Representative micrographs showed kidney inflammation and fibrotic lesions in indicated groups. Paraffin sections were used for H&E and Masson trichrome staining. Scale bar, 55 μm. c, d The protein expression and relative quantitative data of IκBα, p-IκBα, NF-κB, and its downstream gene products, COX-2, MCP-1, as well as Nrf2 and its downstream gene products, HO-1 and NQO-1, in indicated groups. *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01 compared with sham group (n = 6). ^#P < 0.05, ^##P < 0.01 compared with UUO group (n = 6). e, f Immunohistochemical staining of CD3 and CD68 and relative quantitative data in indicated groups. Scale bar, 50 μm. ^#P < 0.05, ^##P < 0.01 compared with UUO group (n = 6). g Immunohistochemical staining of fibronectin and vimentin in indicated groups. Scale bar, 50 μm. h, i The protein expression and relative quantitative data of collagen I, fibronectin, α-SMA and E-cadherin in different groups as indicated. *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01 compared with sham group (n = 6). ^#P < 0.05, ^##P < 0.01 compared with UUO group (n = 6). UUO, unilateral ureteral obstruction. Dot presents the single data results in bar graph. Data are presented as means ± SD. Student’s t test was used for the significance of difference between two groups; one-way ANOVA followed by Dunnett’s post hoc test for multiple comparisons was used for three or more groups