Fig. 1

L. plantarum can suppress urate synthesis and improve urate excretion by intestine. A Heatmap showing urate level in serum and in urine of mice fed ND, HNS, HNS + LP, and HNS + AO for a consecutive 16 days. The red and blue colors show higher and lower levels of urate. Data are visible in Fig. S1A. B–F Synthesis and excretion of urate in mice. B, C Enzymatic activity (left panel) and corresponding mRNA level (right panel) of purine nucleoside phosphorylase (PNP) (B) and xanthine oxidase (XOD) (C) in liver of mice at 16 days after euthanasia. Activity of PNP and XOD indicated the synthesis of urate. D–F The qRT-PCR analysis of mRNA levels of urate transporter, including SLC2A9 (D), ABCG2 (left panel in E), and SLC17A1 (F) involved in urate excretion by kidney. Right panel in E shows mRNA level of ABCG2 associated with urate excretion by intestine. ND, normal diet; HNS, high-nucleoside diet; HNS + LP, high-nucleoside diet supplemented with L. plantarum; HNS + AO, high-nucleoside diet plus allopurinol treatment; n = 6 mice per group unless otherwise stated. Graphs show the mean (A) and mean ± s.d. (B–F); *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, ***P < 0.001, ****P < 0.0001 by two-tailed t-test (B, C) and one-way ANOVA with t-test correction (D–F)