Rapamycin treatment reduces the upregulated expression of NLRP3, ASC and caspase-1 in the prostates of rats. (A) Representative IHC images of NLRP3, ASC and caspase-1 expression in the prostates of rats from the three groups (magnification, 200×; scale bar, 200 µm). Relative mRNA expression levels of (B) NLRP3, (C) ASC, and (D) caspase-1 in the prostates of rats from the different groups as detected by reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction analysis. (E) Representative images of western blotting of NLRP3, ASC and caspase-1 in the different groups. Quantitative analysis was used to assess the levels of (F) NLRP3, (G) ASC and (H) caspase-1 in the different groups. The values obtained were normalized against GAPDH. Data are expressed as the mean ± standard deviation. *P<0.05 vs. the CON group; #P<0.05 vs. the CNBP group. CON, control; CNBP, chronic non-bacterial prostatitis; RAPA, rapamycin; IHC, immunohistochemistry; NLPR3, Nod-like receptor family pyrin domain-containing protein 3; ASC, apoptosis-associated speck-like protein containing a caspase recruitment domain.