Figure 4

Quercetin treatment reduces lung inflammation and reverses goblet cell metaplasia. Lung sections from elastase/LPS exposed mice were stained with H & E or immunostained with an antibody to Muc5AC. A and B. Mice treated with vehicle show mild-to-moderate wide-spread lung inflammation, emphysema and goblet cell metaplasia. C and D. Mice treated with quercetin show less emphysema with very mild inflammation and a complete reduction in MUC5AC producing goblet cells. Asterisks in A and C represent emphysema. Arrows in B indicate MUC5AC- producing goblet cells. Images are representative of 6 mice per group. E. Examination of BAL fluid reveals increased numbers of total cells, macrophages and neutrophils in elastase/LPS treated mice, which were almost completely reversed by quercetin treatment. F. qPCR analysis of total lung RNA shows increased Muc5AC transcript levels in elastase/LPS-exposed mice, and this was reduced in quercetin treated mice. Data represent mean and SEM (n = 10, *different from PBS/vehicle group, p≤0.05; † different from vehicle treated elastase/LPS exposed mice, p≤0.05 one-way ANOVA).