TLR4 deficiency protected diabetic kidneys from interstitial fibrosis and tubular injury.

<p>(A) Significant interstitial collagen accumulation was evident in WT but not TLR4^−/− mice with diabetes at 12 and 24 weeks. (B) Illustration of representative sections of the histological changes on PSR staining for collagen. (C) Immunohistochemical staining showed upregulation of α-SMA in WT, but not TLR4^−/− mice, with diabetes as compared to non-diabetic controls at week 24. (D) Significant upregulation of KIM-1 was apparent in WT mice with diabetes, but attenuated in TLR4^−/− diabetic kidneys. The data are present as the means ± SEM; * <i>p</i><0.05; ** <i>p</i><0.01; *** <i>p</i><0.001. The number of animals per group was described in <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0097985#pone-0097985-g001" target="_blank">Figure 1</a>.