Fig. 3

Skin fibrosis reduced after administering hep-mASCs. A Representative skin lesion with haematoxylin eosin staining and Masson’s trichrome staining (×100) at 21 days after starting BLM administration. The increase in collagen deposition in the skin was reduced in the BLM-hep10-mASC group and the BLM-hep100-mASC group, but was not reduced in the BLM-mASC group. B The thickness of the dermis (distance between the epidermal–dermal junction and the dermal–fat junction) was significantly decreased in the BLM-hep10-mASC group and the BLM-hep100-mASC group, but it did not decrease in the BLM-mASC group. C The levels of hydroxyproline contents in the BLM-hep-mASC group were significantly decreased, and those in BLM-mASC group were not decreased. The levels of hydroxyproline contents were significantly decreased in the BLM-hep10-mASC group and the BLM-hep100-mASC group, but it did not decrease in the BLM-mASC group. n = 7 in each group. In the BLM-alone group, 100 μL of PBS was intravenously injected into the tail vein. Data are shown as mean ± SEM. *P < 0.05; **P < 0.01 vs. BLM-alone group