I.p injection of digoxin alleviates cellular infiltration and improves survival.

(A) 40 μg digoxin was injected every day starting from 24 hrs post RRV infection for 6 days. The percentage of Th17 cells in the liver of mice 7 days post infection was measured by FCM. 87.6% of total Th17 in the RRV group was depleted by digoxin (4.76 ± 2.07% in RRV group vs 0.59 ± 0.33% in the RRV + digoxin group, P = 0.0074). (B) Morphology of extrahepatic (EHD) and intrahepatic bile ducts (IHD) obtained from mice at 7 days post RRV injection that had received either a digoxin or saline injection for 6 days. Pictures obtained by stereomicroscope, arrows highlight the bile duct epithelia. Representative of 4 experiments (x40). (C) Percentage of symptomatic mice in the two groups. Jaundice was judged by observation of skin areas without fur. Acholic stool was distinguished from a yellowish stool discharged by normal mice. (D) Weight gains after birth for 3 groups. Mice weights were recorded each day after RRV infection for a total of 16 days, * P<0.05. (E) Kaplan-Meier survival analysis of mice. 13–17 mice in each group were followed for survival post-infection. P<0.001 for RRV vs RRV + digoxin.