Fig 2: MET downregulates NOX2-induced oxidative stress caused by gas explosions. (A) Protein expression levels of NOX2 and CAT. Protein expression levels of (B) NOX2 and (C) CAT were quantified. n=8. RT-qPCR analysis for the relative quantitative expression of (D) GP91 and (E) CAT in lung tissue of rats, and the relative quantitative expression was normalized to that of GAPDH. n=6. (F) Changes in the total antioxidant capacity (T-AOC) in the serum of rats with gas explosion-induced injury. n=6. *P<0.05 compared with the control group; #P<0.05 compared with the BLI group. RT-qPCR, reverse-transcription-quantitative; MET, metformin; NOX2, nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate oxidase; CAT, catalase; GP91, gp91 phox; T-AOC, total antioxidant capacity; BLI, blast lung injury.

Fig 3: NOX4 knockdown decreases H2O2 production in VSMC treated with TMAO.A Representative blots and quantitative data of Nox1, Nox2 and Nox4 protein expression in TMAO (600 μM) treated VSMC at indicated periods. The protein expression level was normalized to β-actin. B, C VSMC were treated with scrambled siRNA, Nox1 or Nox4 siRNA, and then treated with TMAO (600 μM). B H2O2 and C O2•− levels were evaluated by DHE and Amplex Red probe, respectively. Data shown are means ± SD, n = 6 per group from three independent experiments. **P < 0.01, ***P < 0.001 using a one-way ANOVA followed by Tukey’s post hoc test.

Fig 4: The gene expression levels and diagnostic values of 7 hub genes in CRSwNP. (A) Fold changes in the ALOX5AP, BCL2A1, BTK, CYBB, NCF2, HCK, and HK3 genes in CRSwNP as determined by RT-qPCR. (B) The relative expression levels of the ALOX5AP, BCL2A1, BTK, CYBB, NCF2, HCK, and HK3 genes in CRSwNP. GAPDH was used as a reference. (C) ROC curves for testing the hub genes ALOX5AP, BCL2A1, BTK, CYBB, NCF2, HCK, HK3, and the combination of 7 hub genes as determined by RT-qPCR. *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, ***P < 0.001.

Fig 5: The protein expression levels 7 hub genes were significantly increased in CRSwNP by immunohistochemistry staining. (A–G) The expression level and location distribution of ALOX5AP, BCL2A1, BTK, CYBB, NCF2, HCK, and HK3 proteins in nasal polyps from CRSwNP patients (n = 11) and nasal mucosal tissues from healthy control (n = 7). (H), Fold changes of average optical density value in the ALOX5AP, BCL2A1, BTK, CYBB, NCF2, HCK, and HK3 protein expression in CRSwNP and healthy controls. **P < 0.01, ***P < 0.001, ****P < 0.0001.