Fig. 4

Effects of the oral administration of P. pentosaceus SMM914 on the antioxidation capacity and activation of the cytoprotective Nrf2 pathway in piglets. (a) Experimental outline in piglets (n = 18). Piglets were kept for 10 days after birth for adaptation. Oral administration of P. pentosaceus SMM914 was performed on days 10, 12, 14, 16 and 18 at low or high doses. At day 7 postweaning, seven piglets per treatment were randomly selected for slaughter for sample collection. (b) Alanine amiotransferase (ALT) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) were significantly decreased in piglets administered P. pentosaceus SMM914. (c-d) A graph and a bar chart of western blotting showing Nrf2 protein expression levels in the liver normalized to PCNA expression in the nucleus. (e-f) Western blotting analysis of antioxidant protein (Keap1, NQO-1, HO-1, SOD1 and CAT) levels in the liver and bar graph of data showing their protein expression normalized to β-actin expression in hepatic cells (n = 6). (g) The enzyme activities of GSH-Px, SOD, CAT and MDA were measured in liver lysates. Values of the bars stand for significant differences using one-way ANOVA followed by Duncan’s multiple comparisons at p <0.05. Data are the mean ± s.e.m, n = 7