2.2. Mouse Model of DDC-Induced Sclerosing Cholangitis

For the murine sclerosing cholangitis model, the mice were given a 0.1% DDC-supplemented diet (Mucedola Srl, Milan, Italy) for 14 days (active phase). After the DDC diet, the mice were given normal chow and drinking water for the successive 14 days (recovery phase) [23]. The mice were randomly divided into 3 groups. Each group was housed in the same cage, fed and treated as follows: (a) the vehicle group was fed a control chow diet with oral gavage of distilled water, (b) the 0.1% DDC group, (c) the 0.1% DDC group treated with 18 mg/kg of 3-IAld every other day. The mice were euthanized at different time points.