Fig. 4
DHA significantly reduced the expression of IL-1β in serum and xenograft tumor microenvironment. a DHA noticeably inhibited the growth of Hep-2 xenograft tumor. Nude mice were inoculated with 1 × 107 of Hep-2 cells. When the formed tumor was palpable, the mice were randomly divided into four groups. The drug treatments were carried out according to the method section. The volume, weight and diameter of tumor xenografts were presented when the mice were sacrificed. Tumor volume was calculated by the formula: V (mm3) = width2 × length × 0.5. Data were shown as mean ± SD, *P < 0.05 vs. control. b The body weight changes of tumor-bearing mice at the 1st and 21st days. c IL-1β in the serum of nude mice was measured at the 21st day. d Statistical analysis of caspase-1 and IL-1β expression by Western blot. Data were shown as mean ± SD (n = 3). ‘*’ represents that P < 0.05 vs. NC group. e Histological findings of the tumor were determined by H&E staining (left panels) and the expression of IL-1β protein was analyzed by immunohistochemistry (right panels) when the tumor-xenograft mice were sacrificed. Magnification ×400. f Expression analysis of IL-1β protein by immunohistochemistry in nasopharyngeal carcinoma tissues