Fig. 4

Detection of AAT in serum and lung tissue at day 3 after lung transplantation. a Using Western Blot, serum AAT levels were evaluated. AAT is a glycoprotein with a molecular mass of about 52 kDa. Sera from the AAT treated group showed remarkably thicker AAT bands, compared to those of the controls. b Serum anti-elastase activity reflects AAT functionality. Serum anti-elastase activity was evaluated spectrophotometrically. AAT-treated mice (n = 4) showed a significantly higher anti-elastase activity than controls: (n = 4): 72.7 ± 1.7 vs. 77.7 ± 2.0, p = 0.029. The p-value was calculated using two-tailed Mann–Whitney rank sum test. A p value of ≤ 0.05 was considered as statistically significant. c, d The immunohistochemical AAT staining showed remarkable difference between vehicle treated control mice (c) and AAT treated mice (d). Sections of graft tissue were stained with anti-AAT polyclonal antibody and HRP-DAB. Brown color indicates AAT. Cell nuclei were visualized by hematoxylin. Images were taken using 100× objective for (c) and 40× objective for (d) on a Leica DM750 microscope equipped with Leica ICC50 HD camera