Coexistence of hyperlipidemia and acute cerebral ischemia/reperfusion induces severe liver damage in a rat model

Figure 4 Expressions of bcl-2 and caspase-3 protein in liver after high-fat diet treatment for 18 wk and/or 2 h transient focal cerebral ischemia followed by 24 h reperfusion. Liver sections from different groups were immunohistochemically stained to assay the expression of caspase-3 and bcl-2 (× 200). A: Protein expression of caspase-3 was markedly elevated in the hyperlipemia (HL) + ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) group; B: Protein expression of bcl-2 was dramatically decreased in the HL+I/R group. C, D: Slides are representative of 6-10 animals per group. Liver homogenates were prepared, and then the expression levels of caspase-3 (C) and bcl-2 (D) proteins in liver were confirmed by Western blotting. Values are the mean ± SD. ^bP < 0.01 vs control group; ^cP < 0.05, ^dP < 0.01 vs HL group; ^eP < 0.05 vs I/R group.