Table 4.
Cytokines mRNA expression levels normalized to ACTB in non-challenged and 24 hpc ETEC F4 pigs treated with probiotics or antibiotics1.
| Gene | Mean cytokine mRNA expression level in the ileum | P-value | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CTRL | ATB | PA | SCB | PA + SCB | T | Ch | T×Ch | |
| IL-6 (10-4) | ||||||||
| 24 hpc | 0.9ac [0.3-3.1] |
1.1ac [0.3-3.6] |
3.5d [1.1-11.3] |
0.6 [0.2-1.9] |
3.9b [1.2-12.7] |
0.33 | 0.47 | 0.29 |
| Not Ch | 0.8 [0.2-3.2] |
1.7 [0.4-7.4] |
0.9 [0.2-3.8] |
1.2 [0.3-5.0] |
1.2 [0.3-5.0] |
|||
| TNF-α-(10-3) | ||||||||
| 24 hpc | 1.28c [0.38-4.32] |
2.94 [0.94-9.19] |
3.87 [1.24-12.09] |
1.65 [0.49-5.56] |
5.28d [1.69-16.48] |
0.24 | 0.59 | 0.85 |
| Not Ch | 1.59 [0.46-5.52] |
4.40 [1.10-17.52] |
4.53 [1.31-15.73] |
3.04 [0.88-10.54] |
3.03 [0.87-10.51] |
|
||
| pBD-2 | ||||||||
| 24 hpc | 0.025c [0.013-0.05] |
0.045 [0.024-0.085] |
0.053d [0.028-0.1] |
0.05 [0.025-0.1] |
0.041 [0.021-0.077] |
0.33 | 0.83 | 0.88 |
| Not Ch | 0.027c [0.01-0.068] |
0.040 [0.015-0.11] |
0.034 [0.013-0.088] |
0.065d [0.026-0.17] |
0.043 [0.017-0.11] |
|||
| IL-12p35 | ||||||||
| 24 hpc | 0.018c [0.007-0.046] |
0.029 [0.012-0.069] |
0.059d [0.025-0.142] |
0.017 [0.006-0.042] |
0.027 [0.011-0.065] |
0.31 | 0.59 | 0.65 |
| Not Ch | 0.011 [0.003-0.038] |
0.033 [0.008-0.13] |
0.022 [0.006-0.074] |
0.025 [0.007-0.085] |
0.025 [0.007-0.091] |
|||
| IL-8 | ||||||||
| 24 hpc | 11.59 [1.29-104,14] |
16.86 [2.12-133.91] |
6.46 [0.81-51.3] |
6.41 [0.71-57.63] |
10.08 [1.27-80.04] |
0.48 | 0.003 | 0.68 |
| Not Ch | 0.59a [0.08-4.47] |
3.79b [0.44-32.9] |
1.62 [0.21-12.36] |
3.12b [0.41-23.73] |
3.55b [0.44-28.63] |
|||
| IFN-γ-(10-4) | ||||||||
| 24 hpc | 0.6 [0.1-2.7] |
0.9 [0.2-3.7] |
0.4 [0.1-1.7] |
0.9 [0.2-3.7] |
1.6 [0.4-6.6] |
0.26 | 0.07 | 0.88 |
| Not Ch | 2.9 [0.6-13.5] |
1.8 [0.3-9.2] |
0.7 [0.2-3.5] |
1.2 [0.3-5.7] |
3.0 [0.6-14.1] |
|||
| IL-10 | ||||||||
| 24 hpc | 0.2 [0.05-0.77] |
0.29 [0.08-1] |
0.22 [0.06-0.77] |
0.09 [0.02-0.32] |
0.45 [0.13-1.57] |
0.39 | 0.85 | 0.47 |
| Not Ch | 0.15 [0.05-0.45] |
0.38 [0.12-1.25] |
0.13 [0.04-0.37] |
0.25 [0.08-0.72] |
0.24 [0.08-0.73] |
|||
1Definition of acronyms: CTRL = No probiotic and no antibiotic; ATB = tiamulin and chlortetracycline; PA = P. acidilactici; SCB = S. cerevisiae boulardii; PA + SCB = a mixture of the two probiotics; IL = interleukin; IFN = interferon; TNF = tumor necrosis factor; pBD-2 = porcine β-defensin-2; COX-2 = cyclooxygenase-2; T = Treatment effect; Ch = ETEC challenge effect.
2Data are presented as the mean of target copy number/ACTB copy number with the range of values for a 95% confidence interval within brackets.
a, bMeans within rows are significantly different (P ≤ 0.05).
c, dMeans within rows tend to be different (P ≤ 0.10).
Challenge group: n = 8/treatment, except for S. cerevisiae boulardii and CTRL group, n = 7.
Not challenged group: n = 8/treatment, except for ATB group, n = 7.