Fig. 4
UA intervention alleviate TGF-β1/smad2.3 pathway molecules expression in airways and accompanying vessels of emphysema rats. A IHC staining of lung sections showed that UA reduced TGF-β1 expression in tissue surrounding airways and vessels in rat lungs. Sham (a), CS (b), UA10 (c), UA20 (d), and UA40 (e). B IHC IOD of TGF-β1 expression in airways and vessels. IOD/Wat and IOD/Vat: /μm2 data are shown. ##p < 0.01 vs. Sham; *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01 vs. CS. C Western blot analysis of TGF-β1/Smad2.3 pathway molecules and IGF1 expression in the lungs of emphysema rats. D Western blot IOD of TGF-β1/Smad2.3 pathway molecules and IGF expression in lungs. #p < 0.05 vs. Sham; *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01 vs. CS. E IHC staining of lung sections showed that UA reduced p-Smad2 expression in tissue surrounding airways and vessels in rat lungs. Sham (a), CS (b), UA10 (c), UA20 (d), and UA40 (e). F IHC IOD of p-Smad2 expression in airways and vessels. IOD/Wat and IOD/Vat: /μm2 data are shown. ##p < 0.01 vs. Sham; *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01 vs. CS. UA: ursolic acid; CS: cigarette smoke (group); UA10: 10 mg/kg body weight UA administration group; UA20: 20 mg/kg body weight UA administration group; UA40: 40 mg/kg body weight UA administration; Pbm: airway or vessel basement membrane perimeter; Wat: airway wall area; Vat: vascular wall area; IHC: immunohistochemistry; IOD: integral optical density