Figure 2.

EGCG significantly reduced the expression of genes involved in liver fibrosis and inflammation in BDL rat livers. (A) mRNA expression of COL1A1, MMP-2, MMP-9, TNF-α, IL-1β, and TGF-β1 in the sham, BDL, and EGCG-treated BDL livers. The mRNA expression levels were normalized against GAPDH. (B) Representative images of liver tissue sections labeled with an anti-desmin antibody or with an anti-α-SMA antibody. The positive areas were quantified using Image J Software. (C) Western blotting analysis of α-SMA, collagen 1a1 (COL1a1) and TGF-β1 expression in BDL rat livers, and the quantification of the whole group. ^bP<0.05 vs the sham group. ^eP<0.05 vs the BDL group. n=10 in each group