Figure 4.

Liver fibrosis is worse in nfκb1^−/− mice. A: Sirius red staining of liver sections at days 1 and 7 of recovery after 12 weeks of CCl₄ injury. Black arrows denote collagen fibers and are representative of five nfκb1^+/+ and four nfκb1^−/− mice. B: Fibrosis scores expressed as average grade ± SEM of five nfκb1^+/+ and four nfκb1^−/− mice at days 1 and 7 of recovery. C: TaqMan analysis of procollagen I mRNA measured in 20 ng of cDNA from whole liver extracts at days 1, 3, 5, 7, and 14 after 12 weeks of CCl₄ injury. The relative level of transcriptional difference was calculated and expressed as an average ± SEM from four nfκb1^−/− and five nfκb1^+/+ animals. Average cycle numbers were: day 1, 24.60 and 27.21; day 3, 25.63 and 27.32; day 5, 26.33 and 27.10; day 7, 27.0 and 27.87; and day 14, 31.87 and 29.88 for nfκb1^−/− and nfκb1^+/+, respectively. The differences were statistically significant, P = 0.0329, and were calculated using a paired t-test. D: TaqMan analysis of TIMP1 mRNA measured in 20 ng of cDNA from whole liver extracts. The relative level of transcriptional difference was calculated and expressed as an average ± SEM from four nfκb1^−/− and five nfκb1^+/+ animals. Average cycle numbers were: day 1, 31.42 and 33.47; day 3, 34.09 and 35.15; day 5, 34.19 and 35.14; day 7, 34.27 and 34.23; and day 14, 36.68 and 36.09 for nfκb1^−/− and nfκb1^+/+, respectively. The differences were statistically significant, P = 0.0302, and were calculated using a paired t-test. Original magnifications, ×100.