H e staining kits

As previously described [33 (link)], after the mice were sacrificed, bilateral kidneys were removed, the left kidneys were weighed, and the ratio of kidney/body weight (K/B Weight) was calculated. Thereafter, the kidney was fixed with 10% paraformaldehyde in a refrigerator at 4 °C for 24 h, embedded in paraffin, and sliced into sections of 5 μm thickness. Sections were stained using H&E staining kits (G1120-100, Solarbio). Paraffined sections were regularly dewaxed and hydrated, stained with hematoxylin for 5 min, and then rinsed with tap water. Following differentiation with 1% hydrochloric acid ethanol for 5 s, the sections were rinsed with running water again and treated with 1% ammonia for 3–5 s. After washing with tap water, the sections were restained with eosin for 3 min, rinsed with water, dehydrated with gradient ethanol, cleared with xylene, and then sealed with neutral gum. The sections were observed and photographed under a light microscope (Olympus, Tokyo, Japan) and the pathological changes and the area of inflammatory infiltration in mouse kidney tissues were evaluated by Image Pro-Plus (Media Cybernetics, MD, USA). Five slices from each of the six mice in each group were collected, and each slice was randomly selected for 5 fields, with the results averaged.

The livers were harvested and then fixed in 4% paraformaldehyde for 24 h at 4°C. Having been paraffin-embedded and sectioned into 5-μm pieces, deparaffinization and rehydration of sections were done. Then sections were stained with H&E staining kits (Solarbio, Beijing, China) in accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions. Images were captured by an inverted microscope.