Fig. 2. Impact of fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF21) on diabetes-induced pathological changes. Kidney pathology was examined with hematoxylin & eosin staining (H&E) (A, B), periodic acid-Schiff (PAS) staining (C, D), and picrosirius red staining (PRS) (E, F) (×400). Renal expression of fibronectin (FN) (G, H), connective tissue growth factor (CTGF) (G, I), and α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA) (G, J) were examined by Western blotting assay. Expression of Wilms' tumor 1 gene (WT1) was tested by immunohistochemical staining (K , L) (×400). Black arrows: Wilms tumor positive cells. For PRS, semi-quantitative analysis was conducted by computer imaging analysis. Data are presented as mean±standard deviation (Friend virus B NIH Jackson [FVB], n=9; diabetes mellitus [DM], n=10; FGF21-treated diabetic mice [FGF21], n=6). aP≤0.05 for each DM vs. FVB groups, bP≤0.05 for DM/FGF21 vs. DM groups.
