Fig. 3.

Interleukin (IL)-15 pretreatment reduces in the levels of fibrosis-associated genes and collagen accumulation in cerulein-induced chronic pancreatitis. A–D: tissue collagen accumulation in saline (A)-, cerulein (B)-, and cerulein with IL-15 (C)-treated mice and the thickness of tissue collagen (D). E–G: mRNA of collagen 1 (E), collagen 3 (F), and fibronectin-1 (G) levels in saline-, cerulein-, and cerulein with IL-15-treated mice. H and I: immunoblot analysis of collagen-1, transforming growth factor (TGF)-β1 (H), and GAPDH normalized densitometry (I). J: immunofluorescence analysis of α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA) in pancreas of saline-, cerulein-, and cerulein with IL-15-treated mice. Arrows indicate α-SMA-positive cells. K: morphometric analysis performed to quantitate α-SMA-positive cells in pancreatic sections of saline-, cerulein-, and cerulein with IL-15-treated mice presented as cells/mm². Data are presented as means ± SD; n = 6–8 mice/group. A representative photomicrograph has been shown, and all photomicrographs are of the original magnification ×400.