Protective Effect of Astaxanthin on Liver Fibrosis through Modulation of TGF-1 Expression and Autophagy
Figure 5
Effect of astaxanthin on the regulation of autophagy in HSCs. (a) The analysis of western blotting showed that astaxanthin (40 mg/kg and 80 mg/kg) obviously decreased the expression of LC3-II and beclin-1. (b) The mRNA levels of beclin-1 were decreased by astaxanthin (40 mg/kg and 80 mg/kg) compared to CCL4 group, and the level of LC3 was decreased only with the dose of 80 mg/kg. Data are expressed as mean SD (, for CCL4 + AST(40) versus CCL4, for CCL4 + AST(80) versus CCL4). (c) The areas of positive cells of LC3 and beclin-1, mainly expressed in HSCs as showed, were visibly diminished by astaxanthin (40 mg/kg and 80 mg/kg) (original magnification: ). (d) The IODs of LC3 and beclin-1 were analyzed by Image-pro Plus 6.0. There existed a significant decrease with astaxanthin (40 mg/kg and 80 mg/kg) treatment (, for CCL4 + AST(40) versus CCL4, for CCL4 + AST(80) versus CCL4).
