Figure 5.

Effects of oral administration of bacteria on the Th17 response of the gut immune system. (A) Lymphocyte fractions were obtained from mesenteric lymph nodes, Peyer’s patches, inguinal lymph nodes, and the spleen of sham-, P. gingivalis-, and P. intermedia-administered mice. Cells were stimulated at a concentration of either 1 × 10⁷/ml (spleen) or 1 × 10⁶/ml (other lymph nodes). The cells were stained with anti-CD4 and anti-IL-17 antibodies, and 1 × 10⁴ cells were analysed by flow cytometry. The percentages of CD4⁺IL-17⁺ cells were compared. Data are expressed as the mean ± SEM (N = 6). *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, One-way ANOVA with Bonferroni corrections for multiple comparisons. (B) Representative plots of one experiment with six mice per group. (C) Lymphocytes obtained from the tissues of mice were stimulated with PMA/ionomycin for 24 h. Culture supernatants were analysed by an ELISA. Data represent the mean ± SEM (N = 6). *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, One-way ANOVA with Bonferroni corrections for multiple comparisons.