Figure 7.

Effects of probiotics on the levels of tight junction proteins and protein kinase C proteins in the mucosa of the terminal ileum. A: Western blotting analysis of occludin, ZO-1, claudin-1, claudin-4, junction adhesion molecule (JAM)-A, and protein kinase C (PKC) proteins; B: Statistical evaluation of densitometric data that represent protein levels from the three separate experiments. ^aP < 0.05 vs Group III; ^cP < 0.05 vs Group V. Data are presented as relative band density ± SD. Group I : Sham-operation; Group II: Bile duct ligation (BDL); Group III: BDL + Lactobacillus plantarum (L. plantarum); Group IV: BDL + internal biliary drainage (IBD); Group V = BDL + IBD + L. plantarum.