Table 4.
Effect of silybum marianum meal as a replacement for soybean meal on serum cytokine levels in lambs.
| Item | Treatment | SEM | p-value | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CON (n = 7) | SIL (n = 7) | |||
| IL-1β (pg/mL) | 418.06b | 546.65a | 20.01 | 0.018 |
| IL-2 (pg/mL) | 683.43 | 788.85 | 19.51 | 0.083 |
| TNF-α (pg/mL) | 108.12b | 144.99a | 5.48 | 0.002 |
| TGF-β (ng/mL) | 31.21b | 39.41a | 0.91 | <0.001 |
| HGF (pg/mL) | 1242.97b | 1534.02a | 44.11 | 0.017 |
| VEGF (pg/mL) | 109.26b | 132.16a | 3.08 | <0.001 |
| IGF-1 (ng/mL) | 1236.98 | 1381.17 | 32.10 | 0.075 |
CON = supplemented with 10% soybean meal; SIL = supplemented with 10% silybum marianum meal; IL-1β = interleukin 1β; IL-2 = interleukin 2; TNF- α = tumor necrosis factor; TGF- β = transforming growth factor β; HGF=Hepatocyte growth factor; VEGF = vascular endothelial cell growth factor; IGF-1 = insulin-like growth factor 1.
Values are expressed as means ± SEM, n = 7. p < 0.05 was regarded as statistically significant, and 0.05 < p < 0.10 was regarded as a statistical tendency.
Values in the same row with different superscript letters (a, b) differ significantly (p < 0.05).