Figure 4.

Tofacitinib ameliorates the clinical symptoms and lupus nephritis in MRL/lpr mice. MRL/lpr mice were administered vehicle, tofacitinib alone or combined with SB431542. C57BL/6 mice were the control mice. (A) The levels of proteinuria were measured every two weeks. The spleen/body weight ratio (B) and plasma anti-dsDNA antibody level (C) were determined at the end of the study. (D) Representative photomicrograph of renal histology stained with hematoxylin and eosin (H&E), periodic acid-Schiff (PAS), and Masson. Scale bar, 30 µm. (E) Histological scores for glomerular, interstitial, and perivascular lesions, according to the above three stains. The control mice did not present any histopathological alteration and the histological score was zero. (F, G) Representative images of IgG deposition and fluorescence intensity assessment. Scale bar, 50 µm. n=8 for each group. Error bars indicate SEM. *P<0.05, **P < 0.01, ***P < 0.001 and ****P < 0.0001. TOF, tofacitinib; SB, SB431542.