Fig. 1: Tet treatment improved lung impairment, pulmonary inflammation, and fibrosis in an early therapeutic silicosis mouse model.

a Schematic of Tet administration in an early therapeutic silicosis mouse model. There are five groups (PBS + Vehicle, PBS + HT, Si + Vehicle, Si + LT, and Si + HT groups) in the following experiments of Fig. 1 (5 mice per group). LT, low dose of Tet (50 mg/kg); HT, high dose of Tet (100 mg/kg). b-e Lung function test from mice treated as in (a). IC, inspiratory capacity; Cst, static compliance; G, H, tissue damping (resistance). f Right ventricular systolic pressure (RVSP) from mice treated as in (a). g Macrophage count in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) from mice. h Representative images of hematoxylin and eosin (HE) staining (above) and Masson staining (below) of lung sections from mice treated as in (a) (n = 5 per group). Scale bar, 50 μm. i Statistical analysis of Szapiel Scores of HE staining in images of (h). j Statistical analysis of Fibrotic lesion Scores of Masson staining in images of (h). k mRNA level of IL-1β in lung tissue from mice. l mRNA level of IL-6 in lung tissue from mice. m Concentration of IL-1β in BALF from mice. n Concentration of IL-6 in BALF from mice. o Hydroxyproline assay of lung tissue from mice. The data are reported as the mean ± SEM. Significance for each figure: *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, ***P < 0.001 and ns indicates not significant.