Figure 5.

Effects of early and late hAMSCs treatment on cytokine release in the artery of apolipoprotein E-knockout mice. Mice were treated with hAMSCs or PBS concomitantly with or after 8 weeks of high-fat diet. Control mice were not treated. The expression of the pro-inflammatory cytokine TNFα was significantly downregulated, whereas the expression of the anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-10 was significantly upregulated in mice treated with hAMSCs compared with control mice in early and late treatment groups, as determined by (A) western blotting and (B) reverse transcription-quantitative PCR. ^*P<0.05, ^**P<0.01. hAMSCs, human amniotic mesenchymal stem cells; TNF, tumor necrosis factor; IL, interleukin.