Astaxanthin Inhibits Interleukin-6 Expression in Cerulein/Resistin-Stimulated Pancreatic Acinar Cells

Figure 4

Astaxanthin (ASX) inhibits cerulein/resistin-induced increases in ROS, NADPH oxidase activity, and Ca²⁺ level in AR42J cells. The cells were pretreated with the indicated concentrations of ASX for 3 h and then stimulated with cerulein/resistin for 45 min (for ROS levels, ROS fluorescence imaging, and NADPH oxidase activity (a–c)), and for the indicated period (for Ca²⁺ level (d)). (a) Intracellular ROS levels were measured by dichlorofluorescein diacetate (DCF-DA) fluorescence. (b) Representative images of ROS-induced fluorescence response of DCF-DA. (c) NADPH oxidase activity was measured by the lucigenin assay. (d) Ca²⁺ level was determined by measuring the fluorescence changes of fluo-4 AM at excitation and emission wavelengths of 494 nm and 525 nm, respectively. Ca²⁺ levels were expressed as , where is the resting background fluorescence, and is fluorescence change over time after treatment with cerulein/resistin in the presence or absence of ASX. Fluorescence transient changes (obtained within 1-5 min) were plotted (A). (B) Ca²⁺ levels were expressed as of the cells. Data are expressed as the of three different experiments. ROS level, NADPH oxidase activity, and Ca²⁺ level in none (untreated cell) were set as 100 (a, c) or 1 (d). vs. none (untreated cells); ⁺ vs. cerulein (cells treated with cerulein alone).

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