Figure 2.

Effect of zinc supplementation in the sham-operated and BDL groups on liver hydroxyproline content (a), and collagen and α-SMA deposition (b). Immunostaining of collagen and α-SMA (b) appeared positive in BDL mice and semi-quantitative analysis revealed a significant increase in collagen content and α-SMA concentrations, which were significantly reduced by zinc supplementation. Data were obtained from nine mice in each treatment group (a) and expressed as mean ± SD. The mean density of Masson’s trichrome staining, Sirus red staining, and α-SMA staining was obtained from six animals; three different section slides from each mouse and the images of five randomized and non-overlapping areas at x100 (Masson’s trichrome staining, Sirus red staining) or x400 (α-SMA staining) magnification in each slide were captured and calculated. Data are shown as the mean ± SEM; *significantly different from sham-operated controls (P < 0.05), #significantly different from both sham-operated controls and BDL treated only (P < 0.05). (A color version of this figure is available in the online journal.)