Figure 3. Loss of ABCB6 worsens liver injuries in Fech^m1Pas mice.

(a) Electron micrographs of liver specimens from Fech^m1Pas and Abcb6^−/−/Fech^m1Pas mice. The red arrows indicate PPIX crystals. Scale bars, 2 μm (for × 5,000 images); 500 nm (for × 19,000 image). (b) Haematoxylin- and eosin-stained liver sections were blindly scored for (c) liver organization (disarray) and (d) hypertrophy using the scale: 0=normal, 1=minimal, 2=mild, 3=moderate, 4=marked and 5=severe. Each dot represents an individual animal (n=5). Scale bars, 100 μm. (e) Galectin-3 staining of liver sections showing reactive Kupffer cells (blue arrowhead) and hepatocytes (green arrowhead) Scale bars, 50 μm. (f) Galectin-3-positive hepatocytes were quantified (average of 10 fields from a slide, n=3 each). (g) Liver weight (up to three samples) and (h) serum total bilirubin (up to eight samples) from indicated genotypes of mice. (i) Monocyte counts were determined from complete blood count values (n=13–25 samples. Error bars show s.e.m.). (j) Inflammatory cytokine levels in the serum were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (n=2 and 3, respectively). *P<0.05; **P<0.01 using Student's t-test with error bars showing s.d., unless otherwise indicated.