Emodin protects rat liver from CCl4-induced fibrogenesis via inhibition of hepatic stellate cells activation

Figure 1 Emodin protects the liver from CCl₄-induced fibrogenesis in rats via inhibition of hepatic stellate cell activation. A piece of liver tissue from each treated rat (n = 6 per group) was fixed with formalin, and then it was embedded in paraffin. A: Thin sections were cut and stained with HE; B: α-SMA proteins were stained by immunohistochemistry in liver tissue. Representative views from each group (n = 6 per group) are presented (original magnification, × 400). Arrows indicated an area positively labeled with α-SMA; C: Semi-quantification of α-SMA staining. Values are expressed as mean ± SD, n = 6 per group. ^aP < 0.05 vs CCl₄ group. Total RNA extracted from rat liver tissues was used to synthesize cDNA; D: The α-SMA mRNA was detected by real-time PCR, and mRNA levels are expressed as -fold differences relative to normal rat after normalization to the housekeeping gene’s GAPDH mRNA. Values are expressed as mean ± SD, n = 5 per group. ^aP < 0.05 vs CCl₄ group.