Figure 3.

ACE2 inhibited liver fibrosis and hepatic stellate cell activation. Fibrosis in the BDL, CCl₄, and MCD models was evaluated by morphometric analysis of (a and b) liver sections stained with picrosirius red, by (c) liver hydroxyproline content, and by (d) qPCR for COL1A mRNA, showed a significant reduction of hepatic fibrosis by rAAV2/8-ACE2 therapy. ACE2-treated mice also displayed a significantly decreased (e) positive staining of α-SMA, a marker for activated HSCs as well as (f) the mRNA level. Each bar represents the mean ± SEM profile from n >10 mice per treatment group. *P < 0.0001, ^#P < 0.01, ^P < 0.05, and ^ξP = 0.06 were calculated by one-way analysis of variance with Tukey comparison test.