Fig 1: Effects of EA36 on angiogenesis and inflammation levels in a rat model of portal hypertension induced by bile duct ligation. (A) Effects of electroacupuncture (EA36) treatment on angiogenesis signaling in BDL rats relative to untreated sham and BDL rats. The red circles denote aortic damage. Aortas were sectioned and double immunofluorescence was performed with ICAM1 (green) and VCAM1 (red), as well as, TGFßR2 (green) and VEGFR1 (red). Angiogenesis-positive cells were observed adjacent to the vascular endothelium in the aorta of BDL rats. Use DAPI staining solution to stain DNA in fluorescent tissue imaging. Orange arrows highlight positive staining. Scale bar: 50 µm. (B) Quantification of VCAM1, ICAM1, TGFß2, and VEGFR1 protein levels by western blot of aorta. Right graphs indicate quantification relative to ß-actin. (C–E) Concentration of TNFa, MCP1, and Il-1ß in serum. (F–H) Quantification of Tnfa, Ifn?, Mcp1, and Il-1ß by qRT-PCR in aorta. qRT-PCR indicates quantification relative to Gapdh. The results represent mean ± SEM. *p < 0.05, sham compared with BDL; #p < 0.05, BDL compared with BDL + EA36.