Fig 1.
Effect of Lactobacillus casei (L. casei) pretreatment on acute alcohol-induced liver injury.
(A) Hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) staining of livers from Control, EtOH, LC-ic + EtOH and LC-cs + EtOH mice (40 x: scale bars = 25 µm). (B) Oil Red O staining of livers from Control, EtOH, LC-ic + EtOH and LC-cs + EtOH mice (20 x: scale bars = 50 µm). (C) Plasma alanine aminotransaminase (ALT) levels. (D) Liver triglyceride (TG) levels. (E) Liver TNF-α levels. (F) Liver IL-6 levels. Data are expressed as mean ± SEM. n = 8, *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01 and ***p < 0.001.
Fig 2.
Effect of Lactobacillus casei (L. casei) pretreatment on alcohol-induced hepatocyte apoptosis.
(A) TUNEL-positive nuclear staining of liver from Control, EtOH, LC-ic + EtOH and LC-cs + EtOH mice (20 x: scale bars = 100 µm). (B) Quantification of the relative number of TUNEL-positive cells. Data are expressed as mean ± SEM. N = 6, *p < 0.05 and **p < 0.01.
Fig 3.
Effect of Lactobacillus casei (L. casei) pretreatment on alcohol-induced liver oxidative stress.
(A) Liver malondialdehyde (MDA) levels. (B) Liver superoxide dismutase (SOD) levels. (C) Liver glutathione peroxidase (GSH-PX) levels. (D) Liver total antioxidant capacity (T-AOC) levels. Data are expressed as mean ± SEM. n = 8, *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01 and ***p < 0.001.
Fig 4.
Effect of Lactobacillus casei (L. casei) pretreatment on alcohol-induced liver endoplasmic reticulum stress.
Immunohistochemistry staining of C/Ebp-homologous protein (CHOP), glucose-regulated protein 78 (GRP78), Protein disulfide isomerase (PDI) and X box-binding protein-1 (XBP-1) positive area of liver from Control, EtOH, LC-ic + EtOH and LC-cs + EtOH mice (40 x: scale bars = 50 µm, n = 6).
Fig 5.
Effect of Lactobacillus casei (L. casei) pretreatment on alcohol-induced intestinal barrier injury and endotoxemia.
(A) Hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) staining of intestine from Control, EtOH, LC-ic + EtOH, and LC-cs + EtOH mice (40 x: scale bars = 25 µm). (B) Plasma LPS levels. (C-H) Relative intestine mRNA expression of intestinal trefoil factor (ITF), P-gp, cathelin-related antimicrobial peptide (CRAMP), zonula occludens-1 (ZO-1), occludin and claudin-1 levels was detected. (I) Representative immunofluorescence staining of the key tight junction proteins ZO-1, occludin, and claudin-1 in the duodenum (200 x: scale bars = 50 µm). Data are expressed as mean ± SEM. n = 6-8, *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01 and ***p < 0.001.