Effects of elafibranor on liver fibrosis and gut barrier function in a mouse model of alcohol-associated liver disease

Figure 6 Elafibranor on intestinal barrier function in the alcohol-associated liver disease mice. A: Representative microphotographs of ileum sections immunofluorescent stained with tight junction proteins (TJPs) including zonula occludens-1 (ZO-1), occludin and claudin-2; B: Quantitation of ZO-1, occludin and claudin-2 immunopositive area in high-power field (n = 10); C: Intestinal mRNA levels of TJPs (n = 10); D: Blood levels of fluorescein isothiocyanate-dextran (4 kDa) 4 hours after oral administration (n = 3); E: Cleaved caspase-3 level in the ileum tissue (n = 10); F: Western blot for the protein expression of Bcl-2, Mcl-1 and LC3-1 and 2 in the ileum tissue. Actin was used as an internal control; G and H: Intestinal mRNA level of the markers related to autophagy (G) and macrophage activation (H) (n = 10). Glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase was used as an internal control for real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (C, G, and H). Quantitative values are indicated as fold changes to the values of non-therapeutic group (B, C, E-H). Data are the mean ± SD. ^aP < 0.05 vs non-therapeutic group; ^bP < 0.01 vs non-therapeutic group; ^cP < 0.05 vs vehicle-treated alcohol-associated liver disease group; ^dP < 0.01 vs vehicle-treated alcohol-associated liver disease group, significant difference between groups by Student’s t-test. NT: Non-therapeutic group; Veh: Vehicle-treated alcohol-associated liver disease group; EFN-L: Elafiblanor (3 mg/kg/day)-treated alcohol-associated liver disease group; EFN-H: Elafibranor (10 mg/kg/day)-treated alcohol-associated liver disease group; ZO-1: Zonula occludens-1; TNF: Tumor necrosis factor; IL: Interleukin; FITC: Fluorescein isothiocyanate.