Fig. 4.

Effects of EO + OA on intestinal development of weaned piglets. (A-D) The Western blot, Bcl-2, caspase-3, and Bax relative protein expression levels (n = 3 replicates per group); (E) The ratio of Bcl-2 to Bax (n = 3 replicates per group). CON = piglets fed the basal diet with intraperitoneal saline injection; LPS = piglets fed the basal diet and injected intraperitoneally with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) to induce stress; EO + OA + LPS = piglets fed the basal diet supplemented with essential oils (EO) and organic acids (OA) and injected intraperitoneally with LPS to induce stress. Bcl-2 = B-cell lymphoma 2; caspase-3 = cysteine-aspartic proteases-3; Bax = Bcl-2-associated X protein. ∗ means significant difference (P < 0.05), ∗∗ means extremely significant difference (P < 0.01).