Figure 3: Effects of CK or Rh1 alone or in combination on liver structures in HFD-fed rats.

(a–c) HE staining (a) and Masson’s trichrome staining (b) of liver sections are shown. Quantitative analysis of NAFLD activity, inflammation and fibrosis are shown (c). The thick yellow arrows represent inflammation. The asterisks represent steatosis, and the fine yellow arrows represent fibrosis. NAFLD activity score, inflammation score and the extent of liver fibrosis were graded by 4-grade scores. Three sections per liver were used for each animal and twenty mice were used for each group for staining. (d and e) Electron micrographs of liver sections (d) are shown. Quantitative analysis of mitochondia is presented (e). Data are the mean ± SD of thirty-eight independent graphs. Vvm: volume density of the mitochondrial; Svm: surface density of the mitochondrial; Num: Numerical density of the mitochondrial; Qm: Specific surface area of the mitochondrial. Control, normal diet alone; HFD, high fat diet alone; RSG, Rosiglitazone plus high fat diet; P, phospholipid plus high fat diet; PNS + P, the combination of panax notoginseng saponins and phospholipid plus high fat diet; CK + P, the combination of Compound K and phospholipid plus high fat diet; Rh1 + P, the combination of Rh1 and phospholipid plus high fat diet; CK + Rh1 + P, the combination of CK, Rh1 and phospholipid plus high fat diet. n = 20. ^aP < 0.05 versus control group, ^bP < 0.05 versus HFD group, ^cP < 0.05 versus phospholipid group.