Figure 1. The presence of NLRP3 prevents bile duct loss.

Eight-week old mice from experimental groups (OVAbil vs OVAbilxNLRP3^−/−) fed a standard chow were given 1 × 10⁷ from each OVA-specific CD4 and CD8 T cells donors. Mice fed a high fat diet for 12 weeks receiving the same transfer protocol were also compared. At the peak of disease (10 days post-transfer), serum samples were collected in order to determine ALT levels (A). Liver samples were stained and histological damage assessed by means of bile duct loss and inflammatory cell infiltration (B), representative images of SC-fed mice (C) and HFD-fed mice (D) are shown. Data shown are representative from two experiments (n=8–11) where *P<0.05 and **P<0.01. BD; bile duct, CV; central vein, PV; portal vein.