Fig. 1

Baicalein ameliorates the disease activity in pristane-induced lupus nephritis. BALB/c WT mice (n = 7/group) were given a single injection of 0.5 ml pristane and kept for 5 months. Then mice were randomly divided into three groups: vehicle, 25 mg/kg baicalein, 100 mg/kg baicalein, and kept for another 2 months. a Proteinuria in each group was determined using a Mouse Albumin ELISA Quantitation Set. b, c The levels of serum anti-dsDNA IgG and IgG were detected by ELISA. d Representative photographs of the spleen from each group (left) and the spleen weight of each group (right). e Kidney histopathological evaluation by H&E staining. f Glomerulonephritis score of each group. j Assessment of podocyte foot processes by transmission electron microscopy. Original magnification × 6000. h Representative confocal images of kidneys from each group stained with DAPI (blue) and anti-WT-1 (green) showed podocyte injury. BA represents baicalein. Data represent the mean scores ± SEM. *P ≤ 0.05, **P ≤ 0.01, ***P ≤ 0.001. n = 7 animals per group