Fig. 3
From: Hepatic stellate cell activation markers are regulated by the vagus nerve in systemic inflammation
Reduced levels of peritonitis-induced pro-inflammatory mediators in livers from mice subjected to electrical vagus nerve stimulation. Wild-type C57BL/6J mice were subjected to either left cervical unilateral vagus nerve stimulation (VNS, grey bars) or sham surgery (SHAM, white bars) followed by intraperitoneal injection of zymosan (0.1 mg/mouse) 1 h thereafter. Liver and blood samples were collected 12 h after zymosan injection and analyzed by qPCR and ELISA. (A-C) Transcripts of pro-inflammatory mediators were measured in liver homogenates by qPCR (two independent experiments, n = 5 or 4 per group, respectively). Bars show mean ± SEM, dots represent individual mice. Transcript levels were normalized to Ppia and expressed relative to SHAM (100%). (D) Plasma CCL2 was measured by ELISA (n = 5 mice per group). Bars show mean ± SEM, dots represent individual mice. * p < 0.05; ** p < 0.01 (two-sided Student´s t-test)