Figure 5.

Rapamycin reduces the inflammatory/catabolic response in rat PTSCs. (a) qRT-PCR shows that rapamycin decreases the MMP-13 expression that was upregulated by bleomycin. (b) No significant difference was observed on the IL-6 expression when cells were treated with bleomycin alone, or a combination with rapamycin. (c) Rapamycin decreases the bleomycin-induced TNF-α expression. Results are expressed as mean ± SD, n = 3. ^∗p < 0.05 compared to control, ^#p < 0.05 compared to the bleomycin treatment group. Cont: control; Bleo: bleomycin; Rapa: rapamycin.