Qushi Huoxue ointment ameliorates metabolic associated steatotic liver disease through autophagy activation and ferroptosis inhibition

Figure 2 Qushi Huoxue ointment attenuates methionine-choline-deficient diet-induced hepatic steatosis. A: Body weight of mice at the beginning and end of the experiment; B: Liver weight of mice at the beginning and end of the experiment; C: Representative hematoxylin and eosin staining images showing macrovesicular steatosis (yellow arrows), and focal inflammatory infiltration (blue arrows); scale bar: 100 μm and 20 μm; D: Representative Oil Red O staining images showing lipid droplets (red area /yellow arrows) and nuclei (blue area); scale bar: 100 μm and 20 μm; E: Quantitative analysis of Oil Red O-positive area (%); F: Serum total cholesterol levels; G: Serum triglyceride levels. Data are presented as means ± SD; ^aP < 0.05, ^bP < 0.01, ^cP < 0.001. MASLD: Metabolic associated steatotic liver disease; QSHXO: Qushi Huoxue ointment; TC: Total cholesterol; TG: Triglyceride.