Fig. 4

Anti-inflammatory effects of nanocomposite carriers loaded with IFX. a Western blot analysis of protein expression of TNF-α and IL-1β in drug delivery formulations with IFX and their effects on the production and regulation of inflammation-related factors. The ratios to beta-actin to standardize cytokine protein expression in mice with DSS-induced colitis compared to control mice. b Expression of TNF-α in plasma of mice with DSS-induced colitis using ELISA. c Expression of inflammation-related cytokines mRNA levels in the colon of mice with colitis treated by IFX using drug delivery formulations. Gene expression were evaluated by quantitative RT-PCR and relative expression was reported as fold change compared to the control by normalizing transcription level to β-actin. Data are expressed as mean ± SD. *p < 0.05; **p < 0.01; ***p < 0.001; ****p <0.0001. Statistical significance was assessed using Student’s t-test (C-I) and one-way ANOVA followed by Dunnett post-test. AC-IFX-L, aminoclay-liposome-coated IFX; EAC-IFX-L, Eudragit S100-aminoclay-liposome-coated IFX; IFX, Infliximab; IFX-L, liposome-coated IFX; control, treated with vehicle