Fig. 1

Baicalin alleviates COPD and upregulates the expression of HSP72. COPD was induced by exposing the mice to CS and LPS. a Flow-process diagrams of in vivo and in vitro experiments. b Inflammatory cell infiltration in the lung was analyzed by H&E staining (×200) and the severity of inflammation was scored. c The expression of HSP72 in MLE-12 cells after baicalin treatment for 24 h, ^*p < 0.05 compared to mice treated with 0 µmol baicalin. d The expression of HSP72 normalized to GAPDH was analyzed using immunoblotting after MLE-12 cells were treated with baicalin for 24 h and stimulated by CSE for 2 h. e Cell apoptosis of MLE-12 cells were determined using flow cytometry. ^*p < 0.05, ^**p < 0.01, ^***p < 0.0001 compared to normal mice, ^#p < 0.05, ^##p < 0.01, ^###p < 0.001 compared to mice treated with CSE. All experiments were repeated three times independently and the data were represented as mean ± standard deviation. One-way ANOVA followed by Tukey’s test was used for multiple group comparison