Figure 7.

The role of NF-κB in morphine-mediated HCV RNA expression. A: Effect of morphine on NF-κB promoter in pNF-κB-Luc-transfected Huh7 cells. Huh7 cells in 6-well plate were transfected with pNF-κB-Luc for 24 hours and then incubated with or without morphine (10⁻⁶ mol/L) for 24 hours. NF-κB promoter-directed luciferase activity quantitated from the cell-free lysates were normalized using the total protein of the cell-free lysates. The data are means of triplicate cultures ± SD, representative of three independent experiments. B: Effect of CAPE on morphine-enhanced HCV RNA expression in Huh.8 cells. Huh.8 cells (2 × 10⁴ cells/well) in a 96-well plate were incubated with or without CAPE (25 μg/ml) and/or morphine (10⁻⁶ mol/L). CAPE was added to the cell cultures 30 minutes before the addition of morphine. Cell lysates were then subjected to real-time RT-PCR for HCV and GAPDH RNA quantification 72 hours after morphine treatment. The data are expressed as HCV RNA levels relative (Fold) to untreated control, which is defined as 1. The results shown are the mean ± SD of triplicate cultures, representative of five independent experiments (*, P < 0.01).