Fig. 6

TUDCA attenuates the progression of fibrosis inpulmonary tissue via suppressing TSP-1/TGF-β1 pathway. a Representative micrographs were obtained from (i) the control group; (ii) TUDCA group; (iii) IH group; and (iv) IH+ TUDCA group. The expression of pulmonary fibrosis was identified using Masson’s trichrome staining. The bright blue color represents the distribution of collagen. Scale bars: 50 μm. b The percent area of collagen was significantly increased after 4 weeks of IH exposure, which was reduced by TUDCA application (n = 4). c-d mRNA expressions of TGF-β1(c) and TSP-1 (d) in pulmonary tissue. Analysis of the mRNA expressions reveals that TGF-β1and TSP-1mRNA were significantly elevated in the IH group when compared with the control and TUDCA groups, but prevented by the application of TUDCA (n = 4). *P < 0.05; **P < 0.01; ***P < 0.001; ns P > 0.05