Fig. 4: Long-term statins administration worsens renal inflammation and tubular cell apoptosis in db/db mice.

All mice were ~50 weeks old. a Immunohistochemistry of CD68⁺ cell staining. CD68 is a valuable marker which can be used to identify macrophages and monocytes. And the arrows represent numerous macrophages in tubulointerstitium and glomeruli⁵¹. Original magnification ×200 and ×1000. Scale bar: 100 and 20 µm. b Immunofluorescence of NF-кB staining. FITC-label (green) NF-кB and DAPI (nuclei, blue) were used⁵². White arrows mean NF-кB-positive nuclei. Original magnification ×400. Scale bar: 25 µm. c Immunohistochemistry of neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL) staining. NGAL is mainly expressed in the cytoplasm, and the specific location is indicated by the arrows⁵³. Original magnification ×400. Scale bar: 50 µm. d Immunohistochemistry of IL-1β staining. IL-1β is mainly expressed in the cytoplasm, and the specific location is indicated by the arrows⁵⁴. Original magnification ×400. Scale bar: 50 µm. e Representative sections of TUNEL-positive cells. TUNEL-positive cells are expressed in nucleus, and the specific location is indicated by the arrows. Original magnification ×400. Scale bar: 50 µm. f The immunoblot analysis of IL-1β and NGAL. g, h Analysis of the grayscale image between them. All image part of the kidney was cortex. Renal structures indicated as glomerulus (G), proximal tubule (PT), and distal tubule (DT), collection tube (CD). Data are expressed as means ± SEM. n = 6 in each group. One-way ANOVA with Tukey post hoc test was used for the analysis of statistical significance. Source data are provided as a Source Data file.