Fig. 2

PD markedly reduced autoantibody production, renal disease activity and NET deposition in MRL/lpr mouse model. MRL/lpr mice were treated with vehicle or with PD (45 mg/kg) by daily i.p. injection for 8 weeks. a The proteinuria concentrations were measured by Bradford Protein Quantification Kit and then the urine protein score assessed as described in Materials and Methods. b The levels of anti-dsDNA antibodies and anti-Sm antibodies were examined at the age of 20 weeks. c On the left, representative H&E staining of glomerular and renal vascular lesions in kidneys was shown (× 400). On the right, Austin scores of kidneys were determined. d On the left, representative staining of IgG deposition (red) in glomeruli of kidneys was shown (× 400). On the right, the average score of IgG deposition was calculated as described in Materials and Methods. e NET formation in kidneys was determined as colocalization of DNA (blue) and MPO (red). Representative fluorescent images were shown (× 400) on the left. Ten glomeruli per animal were examined for NET staining and the percentage of NET-stained glomeruli per animal was calculated and shown on the right. NET⁺ Glomeruli% = positive NET-stained glomeruli/total glomeruli per field. For all experiments, vehicle-treated MRL/lpr mice, N = 8; PD-treated MRL/lpr mice, N = 6; data were shown as mean ± SD, *p < 0.05; **p < 0.01; ***p < 0.001. IgG immunoglobulin G, NET neutrophil extracellular trap, PD polydatin