Figure 3.

LBP treatment ameliorated fibrosis induced by NASH development. Expressional changes of (a) TGF-β1 mRNA and protein, (b) α-SMA mRNA and (c) PC-1 mRNA exhibit increased hepatic fibrosis in the liver of high-fat diet-fed rats, which is attenuated by LBP treatment. Western blot of phosphorylated and total forms of (d) SMAD2 and (e) SMAD4 indicate the contribution of the TGF-β/SMAD pathway in the anti-fibrosis effects of LBP. Data from each group were expressed as means±s.e.m. (n=8). Statistical comparison between groups was done using the Kruskal–Wallis test followed by Dunn's post hoc test to detect differences between all groups. A P-value <0.05 was considered to be statistically significant with different letter labels. C, control; L, vehicle-LBP; N, NASH; N+L, NASH+LBP.