Figure 5

Hepatic stellate cell activation in wt and ApoE^−/− mice with or without WD or MCD diet.

(A) Gene expression of αSMA, as a surrogate marker for hepatic stellate cell activation showed increased expression in ApoE^−/− mice fed with Western Diet (WD) compared to their wt littermates. Expression levels of αSMA in mice fed with methionine and choline deficient (MCD) diet were comparable to those in ApoE^−/− mice fed with WD. (B) Representative sections and (C) quantification (% of positive stained area) of αSMA histological staining. ApoE^−/− mice fed with WD showed significantly more αSMA positive staining than wt mice fed with WD. In mice fed with MCD diet αSMA positive staining was comparable to ApoE^−/− mice fed with WD. (D) Invasive portal pressure measurement showed increased portal pressure in ApoE^−/− mice fed with WD compared to wt mice fed with MCD diet. ApoE^−/− mice fed MCD diet showed abnormal high portal pressure. Graphs are expressed as means ± standard deviation. The scale bar is 100 μm respectively 20 μm for the magnifications. p < 0.05 was considered significant.