Bcl-2, Bax, and caspase-3 immunostained sections and morphometric analysis of hepatocytes in the control, PbAc-, IOLE-, and IOLE+PbAc-treated rats.

<p>(A) In the control and IOLE groups, apoptotic hepatocytes, i.e., those stained with Bax and caspase-3, were sparse and weakly stained. In the PbAc group, many hepatocytes were apoptotic. In the IOLE+PbAc group, the number of apoptotic hepatocytes was decreased. (scale bar 50 μm) (B) The plots show an increase in apoptotic hepatocytes in the control, PbAc-, IOLE-, and IOLE+PbAc-treated rats. All results are expressed as the mean ± SEM. A minimum of 20 high-magnification fields (× 400) per section were quantified. ^a<i>p</i><0.05, significant change with respect to Control; ^<i>b</i><i>p</i><0.05, significant change with respect to PbAc using Duncan's post hoc test.