Figure 2.

Hepatic deposited lupus serum immunoglobulin G (IgG) induced liver inflammation in normal mice. (A) Immunohistochemical staining detected IgG deposition in the liver of MRL/lpr mice (25 weeks), B6 lpr mice (30 weeks), and C57BL/6 mice (30 weeks). Shown is a representative image of IgG deposition around the inflammatory portal area of a lupus-prone mice liver. Original magnification, 200× (B) Representative histopathologic photomicrograph of liver sections of C57BL/6 mice sacrificed 3 days after intrahepatic injection of serum (100 µL) from a lupus patient with liver disease, healthy control, lupus-prone MRL/lpr mice (35 and 5 weeka), and normal C57BL/6 mice or phosphate-buffered saline (PBS). H&E staining; original magnification, 200× (the result is representative of three independent experiments, n = 5 mice per group/experiment). (C) Kinetics of liver inflammation induced by intrahepatic injection of serum (100 µL) from a lupus patient with liver disease (left panel) and the severity of hepatic lesions triggered by various volumes of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE)-serum 3 days after intrahepatic injection (right panel) in normal C57BL/6 mice (the result is representative of three independent experiments, n = 7 mice per group/experiment). (D) Intrahepatic IgG deposition on liver sections was examined by immunofluorescence 3 days after SLE-serum injection. Original magnification, 100×. (E) The severity of liver inflammation 3 days after intrahepatic injection of 100 µL SLE-serum with or without IgG depletion and 200 µg IgG from patients with SLE (s-IgG) or normal healthy individuals (n-IgG). **p < 0.01 (the result is representative of three independent experiments, n = 5 mice per group/experiment.) (F) Values of serum alanine aminotransferase and AST at various time points after intrahepatic injection of SLE-IgG or PBS in C57BL/6 mice. **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001 (the result is representative of three independent experiments, n = 5 mice per group/experiment.).