Fig. 10. Theaflavin protects against septic shock organ injury in mice.
C57BL/6J mice were administered intragastrically (i.g.) with theaflavin (250 or 500 mg/kg body weight) or vehicle (2% Tween 80 in PBS) once a day for three consecutive days prior to intraperitoneal (i.p.) bacterial infection with viable E. coli (1.0 × 109 CFU/mouse). Mice were administered (i.g.) with theaflavin or vehicle once again at 1 h after the bacterial injection. Mice were sacrificed 8 h after bacterial infection. Hematoxylin and eosin staining of the liver (a) and kidney (b) tissue sections of mice infected with live E. coli for 8 h. Scale bars, 100 μm (scale bars in enlarged insets, 20 μm). Kidney injury was also measured by serum blood urea nitrogen (BUN) (c) and creatinine (d) levels in different mice groups (4 or 5 mice per group). Western blotting of NLRP3, ASC, caspase-1 (CASP1), and GSDMD in the liver (e) or kidney lysates (f) from 3 separate mice of each group with E. coli treatment. β-Actin was used as a loading control for tissue lysates. Data are shown as mean ± SD (n = 5). ns, not significant; *P < 0.05; ***P < 0.001; TF theaflavin.