Fig. 1

Down-regulation of the production of inflammatory cytokine mRNAs and proteins by hVNS in ConA-injected animals. hVNS was administered 24 h after ConA injection and the liver tissue was dissected for real-time PCR and western blot analyses 24 h later. a–c Quantification of mRNAs for TNF-α, IL-1β, and IL-6 by real-time PCR. Levels of target mRNA in ConA + Sham and ConA + hVNS groups relative to untreated control (CTL) are plotted. d–f Western blotting of TNF-α, IL-1β, and IL-6 proteins in the liver tissue. Upper images in d–f are the representatives from four independent experiments and the plots below present quantitative comparison of band intensity relative to actin. Western blotting for actin in d–f as sample loading control. g, h ALT and AST levels in serum of CTL, ConA + Sham, and ConA + hVNS groups of animals. In a–h, one-way ANOVA with Tukey post hoc is shown. *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001