Figure 1.

The study design and timeline. Schematic representation of the timeline for feeding rats with different concentrations of alcohol, Golden Bifido, glutamine, and Medilac-S^®. Treatments were as follows: i) C group: Normal chow diet and 1 ml saline via intragastric administration for 20 weeks; ii) M group: Normal chow diet and intragastric ethanol (8 ml/kg/day; 56% ethanol) on the first day, followed by a gradual increase to 18 ml/kg/day until the end of the experiment with a 2 ml/kg/day interval; iii) T group: Same method as the M group with intragastric administration of 1 ml/kg/day Golden Bifido suspension (total concentration of 500 mg/1 ml saline) for the last 8 weeks; iv) G group: Same method as the M group with the intragastric administration of 1 ml/kg/day glutamine suspension (total concentration of 1 g/1 ml saline) for the last 8 weeks; v) N group: Same method as the M group with the intragastric administration of 1 ml/kg/day Medilac-S^® suspension (total concentration of 140 mg/1 ml saline) for the last 8 weeks; and vi) the L group: Same method as the M group with the intragastric administration of a Golden Bifido suspension (500 mg/kg/day) and a glutamine suspension (140 mg/kg/day) for the last 8 weeks.