Fig. 7.

Fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) ameliorates the gut dysbiosis induced by immune-complex glomerulonephritis (ICGN) but does not attenuate renal impairments. (A) A total of 3769 operational units (OTUs) were detected, 139 of which shared the same OTUs among the four experimental groups. (B) FMT from sham and mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) donor rats increased the richness of the gut microbiota (Chao1 and observed species indices) but not the diversity (Shannon and Simpson indices). ^∗P < 0.05, ^∗∗P < 0.01, and ^∗∗∗P < 0.001 compared with ICGN-vehicle (R-ICGN). (C) β-diversity analysis showed that the species composition of each group was significantly different and could be distinguished clearly. (D) The relative abundance of the phylum levels among the four groups (left) and Firmicutes to Bacteroidetes (F/B) ratio (right). (E) No significant difference was observed in terms of blood urine nitrogen (BUN), serum creatinine (Scr), triglyceride (TG), and serum total cholesterol among the four groups. (F) FMT slightly reduced inflammation and macrophage infiltration in colon tissues by immunohistochemical staining using anti-cluster of differentiation 68 (CD68) and anti-tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) antibodies. ^∗P < 0.05, ^∗∗P < 0.01, ^∗∗∗P < 0.001, and ^∗∗∗∗P < 0.0001 by analysis of variance (ANOVA) (n = 6). R-Losartan: ICGN-losartan-treated; R-MMF: ICGN-MMF; R-Sham: fecal samples from sham; PC: principal component; UACR: urine albumin-to-creatinine ratio; IHC: immunohistochemistry.