Axiphot2

In the end of the experiments, rats liver were removed and rinsed with cold saline water. Then liver lesions were fixed, embedded, and stained with Sirius red and hematoxylin-eosin (HE)24 (link). Their evaluation was conducted using a light microscope (Axiphot2, Carl Zeiss) blindly. Fibrosis was scored according to the Metavir scoring system reported by Bedossa et al.25 (link). Intralobular degeneration and focal necrosis, portal inflammation and fibrosis were compared across the groups. Three representative images of each histology sample section from each rat were selected randomly and all of the rats were scored.

Toluidine blue stained sections were imaged using a Axioplan 2 photographic microscope equipped with photo module Axiphot2 (Carl Zeiss, Wetzlar, Germany). Fluorochrome labelled slices were imaged using a Leica microscope (Leica DM5500 photomicroscope equipped with a DFC7000 camera and LASX software version 3.0; Leica Microsystem Ltd., Wetzlar, Germany). Fluorescence illumination system (X-Cite^®200DC, Lumen Dynamics Group Inc., Mississauga, ON, Canada) from Leica microscope was used to capture images of fluorochromes.