Figure 3.
Crocetin reduced liver injury in DENV-infected mice. BALB/c mice were infected with DENV-2 (4 × 105 FFU/mL) and then treated with crocetin (50 mg/kg) dissolved in 2% DMSO. DENV-infected 2% DMSO-treated and mock-infected 2% DMSO-treated groups of mice were used as positive and negative controls, respectively. Blood samples were collected on day 7 post-infection, and serum was prepared for the estimation of liver enzymes. Liver tissues were excised after sacrifice on day 7. Histopathologic analysis with H&E staining was then conducted. Western blot analysis was performed on protein samples obtained from liver homogenates, and the blots obtained were quantitated by ImageJ densitometry analysis. The results are shown as follows: (A) AST, (B) ALT, (C) Histopathologic analysis with H&E staining (CV represents the central vein), (D) Western blot analysis of cleaved caspase-3 expression, and (E) Densitometry of cleaved caspase-3 expression. The black star represents, those groups were compared and found to be significant.