Figure 3.

Praziquantel (PZQ) suppresses hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) activation by inhibiting TGF‐β/Smad signalling pathway in vivo. (a) Immunohistochemistry for phosphorylated Smad2/3 (p‐Smad2/3) and Smad7 in liver sections. Scale bar, 100 μm. (b) Quantification of p‐Smad2/3 and Smad7 expression in different treatment groups with positive area by image analysis software (n = 5). (c) HSCs were purified from the mice of liver fibrosis that did or did not receive praziquantel treatment. Western blot analysis for p‐Smad2/3, Smad7, and a loading control (GAPDH) protein levels in HSCs. (d) Quantitative analysis of p‐Smad2/3, Smad7, and GAPDH expression (n = 5). All data are presented as means ± SEM. *P < .05; significantly different as indicated; ns, non‐significant