Figure 3.

Oral supplementation of butyrate promotes intestinal smooth muscle cell proliferation and suppresses apoptosis. (A) Representative immunofluorescence images (400 ×) for Ki67 (green), showing more Ki67-positive cells (red arrows) in the muscle layers of SB Bu rats. Nuclei are labeled with DAPI (blue). (B) Bar graph showing quantification of Ki67-positive cells in (A). (C) TUNEL staining from proximal small bowel of rats. Black arrows show TUNEL-positive smooth muscle cells. Scale bars, 50 μm. (D) The fraction of TUNEL-positive cells was counted and plotted. Values are the means ± SD, ***P < 0.001, vs SB W.