Fig. 3
PEA inhibits HIV-1 Tat-induced inflammatory response in rat submucosal plexus-EGCs. HIV-1 Tat (130 ng/Kg) administration induced a significant increase of NF-κB activation and GFAP, S100B, TLR, and iNOS protein expression, as well as S100B and NO2− levels in submucosal plexi deriving from rats on day 7 after diarrhea induction. All HIV-1 Tat-mediated effects were inhibited by PEA (2–10 mg/kg) in a dose- and PPARα-dependent manner. Bisacodyl (20 mg/kg) did not show any significant effect. EMSA and immunoblot analysis showed, respectively, a NF-kappaB activation complex bands, b their densitometric quantification (OD = optical density in mm2), c representative immunoreactive bands of analyzed proteins, and d–g their respective densitometric quantification (normalized against the expression of the housekeeping protein β-actin; OD = optical densitometry in mm2). h, i Levels of S100B and NO2− in submucosal plexi homogenates. The results are expressed as mean ± SEM of n = 5 experiments ***p < 0.001 vs. vehicle group; °°p < 0.01 and °°°p < 0.001 vs. HIV-1 Tat group