Figure 2. AICAR reduces the expression of α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA), collagen I, and fibronectin.
A unilateral ureteral obstruction (UUO) model was induced in adult male BALB/c mice. Sham-operated animals had their kidney exposed but the ureter was not tied. Mice with UUO were administered intra-peritoneal AICAR (500 mg·kg−1·day) or saline 1 day before the UUO surgery and daily thereafter. Obstructed kidneys were harvested 7 days after surgery. Tubulointerstitial expression of α-SMA (A, B, C, J), collagen I (D, E, F, K) and fibronectin (G, H, I, L) in sham, UUO, and UUO + AICAR groups were evaluated by immunofluorescence and immunohistochemistry analysis. Each panel is a randomly acquired representative image of the cortex area in one of six animals (magnification, 200×). The positive staining area relative to the total area from 10 random cortical fields was analyzed. Data are shown as the mean ± S.E. (n = 6 in each group) in the bar graph. *P<0.05 versus the sham group; #P<0.05 versus the UUO group.