Dexmedetomidine enhances anastomotic healing partly via the Wnt/β-catenin pathway in a rat model of colon surgery

Figure 5 Establishing optimal in vitro experimental conditions. A: Tumor necrosis factor-alpha and interleukin-1β levels in supernatants of IEC-6 cells treated with various concentrations and durations of lipopolysaccharide (LPS), measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay; B: The protein expression of claudin-1 and zonula occludens-1 in IEC-6 cells treated with 5 μg/mL LPS for the indicated durations, assessed by Western blotting; C: IEC-6 cell viability assessed by cell counting kit-8 assay following treatment with different concentrations of dexmedetomidine. ^aP < 0.05. ^bP < 0.01. ^cP < 0.001. Dexmedetomidine concentrations selected for subsequent experiments: Dexmedetomidine-low (2.4 μM), Dexmedetomidine-high (4.8 μM). TNF: Tumor necrosis factor; IL: Interleukin; GAPDH: Glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase; LPS: Lipopolysaccharide; ZO-1: Zonula occludens-1; OD: Optical density; DEX: Dexmedetomidine.