Fig. 10
L. reuteri ameliorates sialic acid-facilitated mastitis in antibiotic-treated mice. A Schematic representation of L. reuteri supplementation. Mice were treated with ampicillin and Neu5Ac for 14 days before parturition, followed by the removal of ampicillin and treatment with L. reuteri (109 CFU/mouse per day) for the next 14 days. B Representative H&E-stained sections of mammary glands from different groups (scale bar, 50 μm). C Histological scores of the mammary sections (n = 6). D–H. Mammary MPO (D), TNF-α (E), IL-1β (F), serum LPS (G), and fecal lipocalin-2 (H) levels were assessed (n = 6). I. Representative images of ZO-1, Occludin, and Claudin-3. J–L. The relative intensities of mammary ZO-1 (J), Occludin (K), and Claudin-3 (L) were determined (n = 4). M The protein levels of TLR4-NF-κB/NLRP3 pathways were determined by western blotting. N–R Relative intensities of mammary TLR4 (N), p-p65 (O), NLRP3 (P), ASC (Q), and IL-1β (R) were determined (n = 4). Data are expressed as the mean ± SD (C–H, J–L, and N–R) and one-way ANOVA was performed, followed by Tukey test (C–H, J–L, and N–R). *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001 indicate significance