Figure 6.

Nrf-2 knock-out (Nrf-2^−/−) chondrocytes exposed to high glucose exhibited lower HO-1 expression and increased responsiveness to IL-1β. A, the expression of the HO-1 protein was evaluated in chondrocytes from wild-type (WT) or Nrf-2^−/− mice that were stimulated as described above for 72 h. The values were normalized to β-actin expression. Represented data are -fold induction compared with the control condition without IL-1β. B, PGE₂ production was also measured. Each symbol represents an experiment from one litter of wild-type (○) and Nrf-2^−/− (●) mice. The bars represent the means ± S.D. for each condition. *, p ≤ 0.05.(n = 4).