Fig. 4.

In vivo antifibrotic effect of AL/NPs in CCl₄ fibrotic mice. (A) Treatment schedule for mice that were gavaged with CCl₄ three times a week for 5 wk. During the last 2 wk, mice received six intravenous injections of AL/NPs (2 or 4 mg/kg AL) or corresponding controls (unconjugated 2 or 4 mg/kg AL and NPs). 24 h after the final injection, mice were killed and livers were analyzed. (B) Collagen quantified by relative or total liver HYP content. (C) Morphometric assessment of collagen deposition in representative Sirius red–stained liver tissue sections (five randomly selected fields of each specimen omitting large vascular structures). (Scale bars, 200 µm.) (D) Morphometric assessment of α-SMA+ myofibroblasts in representative liver sections (means ± SD; *P < 0.05, **P < 0.001, ***P < 0.0001 vs. CCl₄ fibrotic control mice; n = 5–7 in the treatment and CCl₄ fibrotic control groups, n = 4 in the mineral oil control group). (Scale bars, 200 µm.)