FIGURE 5.

In vivo effects of metformin in an LPS-induced endotoxemia model. After 4 days of metformin treatment (250 (M250) and 500 (M500) mg/kg, n = 5 each dose, bid, oral), LPS (L) (20 mg/kg, intraperitoneal) was administered, 1 h later plasma was obtained by cardiac puncture, and levels of TNF-α and IL-6 were determined by ELISA (A). Changes in body weights are shown (B). The expressions of phospho-AMPK-α (Thr¹⁷²) (p-AMPK), phospho-acetyl-CoA carboxylase (Thr¹⁷²) (p-ACC), TNF-α, and IL-6 in lung and spleen tissues were determined by Western blotting (C, lung; E, spleen) and real time qPCR (D, lung; F, spleen). G, ATF-3 expression was detected by Western blotting (upper panel) and immunohistochemistry (lower panel). IgG was detected as a native control. The experiment was repeated twice, and results are expressed as means ± S.E. (error bars). *, p < 0.05; **, p < 0.01 versus LPS alone; #, p < 0.05 versus control. Con, control.