Figure 6.

R-Tf-D-LP4 Peptide-Mediated Inhibition of Inflammation and Fibrosis Activities and Enhanced Metabolism in a NASH Mouse Model

(A) Representative H&E staining of liver sections from HFD-32-fed mice at the NASH stage, untreated or treated with R-Tf-D-LP4 (14 mg/kg), showing hepatocyte ballooning degeneration and inflammation. (B and C) Staining of the macrophage marker F4/80 in liver sections from HFD-32-fed and HFD-32-fed, peptide-treated mice. (B) IF staining shows arrows pointing to major results presented in the image. (C) Quantification of the percentage of the F4/80-stained area. (D) qRT-PCR analysis of mRNA levels of inflammation-related molecule in livers from chow-fed mice (black bars) and HFD-32-fed mice untreated (dark gray bars) or treated with R-Tf-D-LP4 peptide (light gray bars). (E) Immunoblot analysis of TGF-β with the relative band intensity presented in relative units (RUs). (F and G) Representative liver sections from HFD-32-fed mice untreated or peptide treated and stained with anti-α-SMA antibodies (F) or Sirius red (G), with arrows pointing to major results presented in the image. Quantification of the α-SMA (H) and Sirius red-stained areas (I). Results are means ± SEM (n = 10; *p ≤ 0.05, ***p ≤ 0.001).