Fig. 8.

Nrf2 is critical to protect quercetin against TSN-induced liver injury in mice. C57BL/6 wild-type (WT) and Nrf2 knock-out (KO) mice were pre-treated with quercetin (Quer; 80 mg/kg) for seven consecutive days and were then administered a single dose of TSN (10 mg/kg) 1 h after quercetin administration on the seventh day. Mice were killed 24 h after TSN administration. a Serum ALT activity. b Serum AST activity. c Histological evaluation of liver injury. Typical images were chosen from each experimental group (original magnification, ×100, upper images; partial enlarged pictures, ×200, a. control; b. TSN; c. TSN+Quer). The data are expressed as the mean ± SEM (n = 6). **P < 0.01 vs. control; ^#P < 0.05, ^##P < 0.01 v.s. TSN; ^&P < 0.05 vs. WT mice. Scale bar: 100 μm