Fig. 1
Chronic arsenic exposure leads to NF-κB activation as well as regulatory T cells specification in spleen. Mice were treated with NaAsO2 (25 mg/L and 50 mg/L) for 1, 3 and 12 months through drinking water ad libitum. Splenic NF-kB protein levels by treatment of a 25 mg/L NaAsO2 for 1, 3 and 12 months and b 25 mg/L and 50 mg/L NaAsO2 for 12 months were assessed by western blot. β-actin was blotted as the internal control. The exposure duration of the control group was 12 months in a and b. The density quantification of each band was presented as mean ± SD (n = 3). Total RNA of spleen was isolated and relative mRNA levels of Foxp3 (c) and Il-10 (d) were normalized to Gapdh and finally expressed as folds of control by real-time PCR. Results were expressed as mean ± SD (n = 4), and two such independent experiments were carried out. *p < 0.05 compared with corresponding control mice