Morin enhances hepatic Nrf2 expression in a liver fibrosis rat model

Figure 1 Chemical structure of morin. (https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/morin).

Figure 2 Changes in body weight among different groups. Body weight increased observably in the control and morin groups. The CCl₄ group had slow weight growth, but morin treatment was associated with increased body weight.

Figure 3 Histological changes of liver samples. A: Control group: treated with vehicle only; B: Morin group: treated with morin at a dose of 50 mg/kg twice a week; C: CCl₄ group: injected with CCl₄ at a dose of 2 mL/kg twice a week; D: Morin + CCl₄ group: treated with the same volume of morin and CCl₄ as the morin and CCl₄ groups. Liver tissues were stained with H&E (× 100).

Figure 4 The mRNA expression of α-SMA, collagen I, and collagen III. ^aP < 0.05 vs control group, ^cP < 0.05 vs morin group, ^eP < 0.05 vs CCl₄ group. In the control and morin groups, there was only minimal expression. The CCl₄ and morin + CCl₄ groups showed significantly increased expression (P < 0.05), while the expression levels in the morin + CCl₄ group were lower than those of the CCl₄ group (P < 0.05).

Figure 5 The mRNA expression of HO-1, NQO1, and Nrf2. ^aP < 0.05 vs control group, ^cP < 0.05 vs morin group, ^eP < 0.05 vs CCl₄ group. The expression was increased obviously in the CCl₄ and morin + CCl₄ groups compared to the control and morin groups (P < 0.05). The expression levels in the morin + CCl₄ group were significantly higher than those of the CCl₄ group (P < 0.05).

Figure 6 The protein expression of α-SMA, collagen III, and collagen I. (1, 2) control group, (3, 4) morin group, (5, 6) CCl₄ group, (7, 8) morin + CCl₄ group. ^aP < 0.05 vs control group, ^cP < 0.05 vs morin group, ^eP < 0.05 vs CCl₄ group. The CCl₄ and morin + CCl₄ groups showed significantly increased expression compared to the control and morin groups (P < 0.05), and the expression levels in the morin + CCl₄ group were lower than those in the CCl₄ group (P < 0.05).

Figure 7 The protein expression of Nrf2, HO-1, and NQO1. (1, 2) control group, (3, 4) morin group, (5, 6) CCl₄ group, (7, 8) morin + CCl₄ group. ^aP < 0.05 vs control group, ^cP < 0.05 vs morin group, ^eP < 0.05 vs CCl₄ group. In the CCl₄ and morin + CCl₄ groups, the protein expression was increased compared to the control and morin groups (P < 0.05); the morin + CCl₄ group had a more significant change compared to the CCl₄ group (P < 0.05).