Fig. 1

Pathological changes and caspase-1 expression in S. japonicum-infected liver tissues. a Gross examination of the liver and spleen from normal and S. japonicum-infected mice at 3, 6 and 12 weeks post-infection. b Representative images of paraffin-embedded liver sections stained with haematoxylin and eosin. Scale-bars: 100 μm. c Representative images of paraffin-embedded liver sections from immunohistochemical analysis of collagen deposition with Masson’s trichrome staining. The data are presented as the percent positive area. Scale-bars: 100 μm. d Protein expression of caspase-1 in liver tissues as determined by immunohistochemical analysis under a light microscope and quantitative analysis of positive staining based on the integrated optical density (IOD)/area with Image-Pro Plus software. Scale-bars: 100 μm. e Relative mRNA expression of caspase-1 determined by qPCR in liver tissues from mice infected with S. japonicum. Abbreviations: N, livers from naïve mice; 3W, livers from mice infected with S. japonicum for 3 weeks; 6W, livers from mice infected with S. japonicum for 6 weeks; 12W, livers from mice infected with S. japonicum for 12 weeks. The data are presented as the mean ± SEM from five S. japonicum-infected mice and four normal control mice at each time point. **P < 0.01, ***P < 0.001