Figure 1.

Downregulation of miR-1224-5p was accompanied with enhanced activation of NLRP3 inflammasome in dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA)-induced polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) mice. (a) Representative images of the ovarian tissue after H&E staining. The levels of (b) luteinizing hormone (LH) and (c) follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) in the serum of mice. (d) The ratio of LH to FSH. (e) The level of estradiol in the serum of mice. (f) The relative mRNA expression of miR-1224-5p in the ovarian tissue of mice quantified by real-time PCR. (g) The levels of tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α and interleukin (IL)-1β assessed by ELISA kits. (h) The protein bands and (i) relative protein expression of NOD-like receptor protein 3 (NLRP3), apoptosis-associated speck-like protein containing a C-terminal caspase recruitment domain (ASC), pro-caspase-1 and cleaved caspase-1 quantified by western blotting analysis. Data were shown as mean ± SD (n = 6). *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001 versus Control group