Lipopolysaccharide induces and activates the Nalp3 inflammasome in the liver

Figure 2 Inflammation in the liver is seen after lipopolysaccharide stimulation. A: Tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α mRNA in liver tissue was significantly increased at all time points after lipopolysaccharide (LPS) stimulation. TNF-α mRNA was analyzed by real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction and normalized to 18S. The values are shown as a fold change to the non-stimulated LPS control; B: Similarly, TNF-α protein was significantly elevated in liver tissue following LPS stimulation as detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Protein levels were normalized to total protein concentration in each tissue sample. Mean ± SD are shown. n = 3 for each group (except at 4 h LPS stimulation, where n = 2 due to an outlier), ^aP < 0.01.