Figure 5.
Effect of oral administration of live or heat-killed Lactococcus lactis A17 (A17) on mRNA expression in OVA-sensitized mouse spleen cells. Mice were orally administered with 109 CFU of live A17 (A17-A) or heat-killed A17 (A17-H) from day 1 to day 28 with OVA sensitization during the second week. The healthy control (CON) and allergy control (OVA) mice were administered PBS orally. After sacrificing, total RNA was prepared from isolated spleen cells for real-time PCR. The mRNA levels (2−ΔCt) of (a) NOD-1, (b) NOD-2, (c) TLR-2, and (d) TLR-4 were determined using quantitative real-time RT-PCR and calculated by subtracting the Ct value of GAPDH from the Ct value of the target gene (ΔCt = Ct target − Ct GAPDH). The values are represented as folds of the healthy control group (CON). The data are expressed as the mean ± SD, with n = 8 mice for each group. A difference between comparison groups was considered statistically significant when P < 0.01 (**). a, OVA and A17 groups compared with the healthy control group (CON); b, A17 groups compared with OVA group.