Figure 3

Dietary cholesterol in soybean oil diet increased hepatic fibrosis, apoptosis, macrophage infiltration and chemokine and cytokine production. Mice received diets as described in Figure 1. (A) Marker of fibrosis: quantification of Sirius Red-stained microphotographs, relative mRNA expression of collagen type 1 (Col1a1) and transforming growth factor β1 (Tgfb1). (B) Marker of apoptosis: relative mRNA expression of Fas ligand (Fasl). (C) Immune-cell recruiting chemokines: relative mRNA expression of Ccl2 (monocyte chemoattractant protein 1, Mcp-1) and Cxcl2 (interleukin-8, Mip-2). (D) Marker of macrophages: relative mRNA expression of macrophage surface proteins F4/80 (Adger1), Cd68 and Cd11b (Itgam). (E) Proinflammatory cytokines: relative mRNA expression of interleukin-1β (II1b), tumor necrosis factor α (Tnf) and oncostatin M (Osm). Values represent means ± standard error of the mean of 5 mice per group. Statistics: One-way analysis of variance with Dunnett’s post hoc test or, where appropriate, Tukey’s post hoc test for multiple comparisons, *p <0.05, (*)p = 0.057.