Tumor necrosis factor-α mediates JNK activation response to intestinal ischemia-reperfusion injury

Figure 4 Suppression of tumor necrosis factor-α repressed caspase-3 activity in ischemia-reperfusion intestinal mucosa. A: Sham-operation (SO) pretreated with vehicle; B: Ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) pretreated with vehicle; C: I/R pretreated with a tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) inhibitor pentoxifylline (PTX); D: I/R pretreated with a TNF-α antibody infliximab (IFX); Activated caspase-3 was assessed by immunohistochemical staining. Magnifications: × 100; E: The active caspase-3 index was calculated by counting a minimum of 20 randomly selected villi and crypts in the sections following cleaved caspase-3 staining. The index was obtained by dividing the cleaved caspase-3 positive cells by the total number of cells. Values are mean ± SE. Six rats were tested in each group. ^aP < 0.05 vs SO rats pretreated with vehicle (SO + vehicle); ^cP < 0.05 vs I/R rats pretreated with vehicle (I/R + vehicle). Six rats were studied in each group, and a similar pattern was seen in six different rats in each group.