Figure 5. Baicalin inhibits IL-17⁺ lymphocyte infiltration into kidney.

(A) IL-17 immunohistochemical staining in kidneys from MRL/lpr mice treated with Baicalin or vehicle for 9 weeks, arrow shows the typical IL-17⁺ lymphocytes. Scale bar, 100 µm. Five independent microscopic fields were selected randomly for each sample to ensure representativeness and homogeneity. Right panel shows the IL-17⁺ cells counted under ×100 magnification. (B) CCL20 mRNA expression in kidney. (C) CD4⁺CD25⁻ T cells from B6 mice were cultured under T_H17 conditions with or without Baicalin for 3 days, CCR6 mRNA expression in T_H17 cells was examined by RT-PCR. These experiments were performed three times with similar results.