Expression of pro-fibrotic genes of the TGFβ family is substantially decreased following AT1 receptor antagonism.

<p>Quantitative RT-PCR analysis of the expression of the pro-fibrotic genes TGFβ (A), CTGF (B) and LTBP4 (C) in the renal cortex of wild type and RenTg mice before and after irbesartan treatment, and TGFβ immunostaining in wild type (D) and RenTg mice before (E) and after (G) irbesartan treatment. Note that the increased expression of pro-fibrotic genes in RenTg mice was decreased to normal levels following treatment with the AT1 receptor antagonist. Values are mean±SEM; n = 5, 9 and 13 for wild type and RenTg mice before and after irbesartan, respectively; * P<0,05 vs WT; ^# P<0,05 or ^## P<0,001 vs RenTg. Bar = 200 µm.