Fig 1. Inhibition of AR prevents the LPS-induced nitrate/nitrite and PGE₂ level in hNPECs.

Growth-arrested hNPECs were preincubated with sorbinil or zopolrestat (A, B) for 24 h or ablated with Control SiRNA (CSi) or AR siRNA (ARSi) (C, D) for 48 h followed by treatment with LPS (1 μg/ml) for 24 h. At the end of incubation, culture medium was collected and levels of nitrite/nitrate were determined using lactate dehydrogenase (LDH)-based colorimetric assay kit and the levels of PGE₂ were determined using ELISA-base PGE₂ assay kit essentially as described by the manufacturer. Inset in C and D shows expression of AR protein after siRNA ablation. Bars represent Mean±SD (n=4). *p<0.01 Vs Control; **p<0.01 Vs LPS alone; ^#p<0.001 Vs Control; ^##p<0.001 Vs LPS alone. sorb, sorbinil; zopol, zopolrestat.