Fig. 4

HM upregulated IL-6 and mucin 4 production by the gastric AGS cells. A Representative Western blot showing the stimulatory effect of 10 µg/mL of LPS and HM on IL-6 protein expression. α-Tubulin was used as a loading control. Bar graph indicates the relative expression of IL-6, calculated as a ratio of the expression of α-Tubulin. B Bar graph showing the relative expression level of Mucin 4 mRNA determined by RT-qPCR analysis in the AGS cells after 72 h incubation with 10 µg/mL of LPS or HM, compared with the untreated cells, calculated as a ratio of the expression to GAPDH mRNA. ^*p < 0.05 compared with the control, from three independent experiments