Figure 2

Histological changes and analysis of inflammatory cytokines in irradiated lung tissues within four weeks. (A) H&E, Masson’s and hydroxyproline staining analysis of lung sections at four weeks post-irradiation. Magnification: ×200; Scale bar: 100 μm; for H&E staining. Magnification: ×400; Scale bar: 50 μm; for Masson’s staining and hydroxyproline. (B–D) Semi-quantitative assessment of alveolar thickness, Masson’s stained areas and hydroxyproline staining areas after the analysis of five random images per group. (E–I) The mRNA expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines (TNF-α, IL-1β and IL-6) and anti-inflammatory cytokines (IL-2 and IL-10) were tested using quantitative real-time PCR. The expression levels were finally normalized to β-actin expression. All reactions were carried out in duplicate, and the results were analyzed using the 2^−∆∆CT method. Data are expressed as mean ± standard deviation (n = 3) and analyzed by independent samples t-test (*P ≤ 0.05 vs. the radiation group; **P ≤ 0.01 vs. the radiation group).