Figure 7

MCL attenuates serum cytokine secretion, organ damage and mortality in LPS-challenged mice.

C57BL/6J mice were injected intraperitoneally with PBS (0.2 mL/mouse), MCL (20 mg/kg), LPS (10 mg/kg), LPS + MCL (20 mg/kg), LPS + DXM (7 mg/kg) and LPS + DXM (7 mg/kg) + MCL (10 mg/kg). (a–f) Two hours later, mice were sacrificed and plasma samples were clotted for 3 h at 4 °C and centrifuged at 3500 rpm for 25 min. The concentrations of various cytokines in the sera were examined by ELISA. Data are shown as mean ± SE of 9 mice per group; *p < 0.05. (g) H&E-staining of lung or liver tissue sections from the indicated group (×200). N = 5 mice per group. DXM, dexamethasone. (h) Septic shock mouse model was created by intraperitoneal LPS injection (25 mg/kg; Sigma). Survival experiments were carried out by several groups as indicated. The protective roles of the low, medium and high doses of MCL (5, 10, 20 mg/kg) were assessed. The survival status of all the groups was recorded at different intervals up to 6 days and data were analyzed using Log-Rank test. The survival curve was generated by Sigmaplot software. N = 10 mice per group; **p < 0.01.