Fig. 2

AS-IV alleviated pyroptosis and fibrosis development in PAH model rats. A, Immunofluorescence staining of NLRP3 in pulmonary tissue section of indicated rats. Scale bar = 50 μm. B, NLRP3 density in pulmonary tissues was quantified. C, IL-1β and IL-18 levels in rat serum were measured by ELISA. D-G, Cropped blots of GSDMD-N, NLRP3, cleaved Caspase-1, Fibronectin and Collagen1 and quantification of grayscale value (the samples derived from the same experiment and that gels/blots were processed in parallel). H-I, Degree of pulmonary fibrosis was evaluated by Masson staining. Scale bar = 100 μm. J-K, Proteins related to extracellular matrix metabolism, including MMP2/9 and TIMP4 were detected by ELISA method. ^**P<0.01, ^***P<0.001, comparison with NC group. ^##P<0.01, ^###P<0.001, comparison with PAH group