Fig. 8From: Uterine microbial communities and their potential role in the regulation of epithelium cell cycle and apoptosis in aged hensEffects of oviduct perfusion with antibiotics on uterine microbiota and microenvironment in the aged hens. a Experimental design overview. b Comparison of Shannon index of α-diversity (n = 10). c Principal coordinate analysis (PCoA) of uterine microbiota based on Bray–Curtis (n = 10). d Microbial composition at the phylum level (n = 10). e The microbial phenotype analysis based on the BugBase database (n = 10). f Effects of oviduct perfusion with antibiotics on the morphological structure of the uterus (n = 10). Scale bar = 100 μm. g Comparison of the eggshell quality and uterine microenvironment in terms of mucosal epithelial thickness, IL-1β, and MUC2 (n = 10). h Detection of cell apoptosis in uterine tissue using the TUNEL assay (n = 6). Scale bar = 50 μm. i The proportion of cell apoptosis (n = 6). j The level of B cell lymphoma-2 (Bcl-2) in the uterus mucosa (n = 10). NC, the negative control group; AB, the antibiotic group. IL-1β: Interleukin-1β; MUC2: Mucin-2Back to article page