2.3 Empagliflozin alleviated HFD/STZ-induced liver fibrosis in
T2DM mice
HE staining showed increased lipid droplets, lipid vacuolation and
disordered arrangement of liver lobules in T2DM group, while
Empagliflozin group could significantly attenuate these pathological
changes (Figure 2A). Furthermore, Masson’s Trichrome Staining and Sirius
red staining results expounded that the collagen deposition was
increased in the HFD/STZ-induced mouse liver tissues, and was reduced
after Empagliflozin treatment, suggesting that Empagliflozin reduced the
degree of liver fibrosis (Figure 2A). The quantitative analysis of liver
fibrosis score is also consistent with the above results (Figure 2A).
Western blotting analysis showed that Empagliflozin significantly
decreased the protein levels of α-SMA and TGF-β1 (Figure 2B) (P
< 0.05). Moreover, qPCR showed that compared with T2DM group,
Empagliflozin significantly decreased the mRNA levels of α-SMA, TGF-β1,
Col 1 and Vimentin (P < 0.05) (Figure 2C). As shown in Figure
2D, The immunohistochemical
analysis demonstrated that Col 1, collagen type III (Col3) and Vimentin
were highly expressed in the HFD/STZ-induced mouse liver tissues, and
were decreased after Empagliflozin treatment. In summary, the above
results corroborated that the administration of Empagliflozin
ameliorated HFD/STZ-induced liver fibrosis in T2DM mice.