Fig. 2
BIC alleviates inflammation and fibrosis in lungs of SiO2-induced rats. A. Representative photographs of lung sections from the three treatment groups of the silicosis rat model stained with either HE (above) or Masson (below) at 1× and 10× magnification. B-C. Assessment of inflammation in HE-stained sections of the silicosis rat model based on Szapiel Scores (B) and Alveolar Septal Thickness (C). D-E. Fibrosis assessment based on CVF (D) and Ashcroft Scores (E) of Masson staining in silicosis rats. F. Analysis of hydroxyproline in lung tissues of silicosis rats. G. Expression of ECM components (COL1A1, COL3A1, FN1) at the mRNA level in lung tissue extracts of the silicosis rat model. H. Representative images of Western blots (left) of COL1A1, COL3A1, and FN1 in lung tissue, and quantitative protein expression in lung tissue after standardization (right). All data are presented as mean ± SEM. Graphs in B-H share common symbols (blue for Control, red for SiO2, and green for BIC). *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, and ***p < 0.001 compared to the SiO2 group. n = 8–9 per group