A–B. Mice were injected with vehicle as control, LPS (2 mg/kg of body weight), AICAR (500 mg/kg of body weight) plus LPS, compound C (CC, 25 mg/kg of body weight) plus LPS, or AICAR together with CC and LPS as described in Methods. 12 hours after LPS injection, the mice were sacrificed, and blood and live tissue were collected. Serum levels of alanine aminotransferase (ALT) (A) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) (B) were measured respectively. C. Liver injury was determined by histological examination on HE-stained liver sections, and apoptosis and necrosis of hepatocytes were indicated by arrows (×200 magnification). * p<0.05; ** p<0.005. Data are represented as mean ± SEM of six to eight independent experiments.