Figure 6.

Liver fibrosis “in vivo” in SerpinB3 transgenic (TG) mice vs wild type (WT) mice exposed to chronic CCl₄ administration. (a,c) Following chronic exposure to CCl₄ (10 weeks) liver fibrosis was morphologically evaluated by Sirius red staining (a) or by immunohistochemistry for α-SMA (c). Original magnification as indicated. (b,d) ImageJ software analysis was performed for both Sirius red staining (b) and α-SMA immunohistochemistry analysis (d) to evaluate the amount of fibrosis. (e) Analysis by quantitative real-time PCR (Q-PCR) of SerpinB3 transcript levels of pro-fibrogenic genes in the different experimental groups. Data in graphs are expressed as means ± SEM (n = 6 mice for any experimental group) (*p < 0.05 vs relative control mice; ^#p < 0.05 vs WT-mice treated with CCl₄).