Figure 2. Curcumin improved renal function in MRL/lpr mice. (A) Measurement of urine protein in MRL/lpr mice from the curcumin treatment group and control group. (B) Serum creatinine levels measured by ELISA in the curcumin treatment and control groups. (C) Transcriptional expression of Tnfα, Ifnγ, Il-1β, α-Sma and Tgfβ in kidneys from the curcumin treatment and control groups examined by real-time quantitative PCR. (D) Representative images of kidneys by H&E staining and histological scores of renal lesions (scale bar: 50 μm). (E) Representative images of kidneys by Masson staining (scale bar: 50 μm). (F) Representative renal immunofluorescence staining showing IgG (green) and C3 (red) deposition in the curcumin and vehicle groups. Nuclei are stained with Hoechst (blue) (scale bar: 50 μm). The data are presented as the mean±SEM (n=6). ns, p˃0.05, *P<0.05, **p<0.01, ****p<0.0001.