Table 5.

Effects of the Astragalus membranaceus roots on immune function of ram lambs

Items	Dietary treatment1)						SEM	Contrast p-value2)
	Control	AMP5	AMP10	AMP15	AMP20	AMP30		Linear	Quadratic
IgA (g/L)	0.46b	0.49b	0.51b	0.60a	0.48b	0.50b	0.012	0.102	0.037
IgM (g/L)	1.05b	1.19b	1.52a	1.53a	1.11b	1.22b	0.040	0.399	<0.0001
IgG (g/L)	20.5b	22.6b	28.2a	29.0a	19.6b	21.5b	0.95	0.239	0.0003
IgE (IU/mL)	43.0	42.4	44.2	45.6	43.5	42.7	0.61	0.183	0.536
TNF (pg/mL)	63.5	62.0	61.8	63.3	62.4	61.7	0.87	0.929	0.523
IL-2 (ng/mL)	3.74b	6.26a	6.96a	3.13b	3.29b	2.39b	0.322	0.522	<0.0001
IL-6 (pg/mL)	106.9b	122.5ab	128.5a	113.9ab	112.8ab	105.4b	2.83	0.360	0.031
Alexin C3 (g/L)	0.48	0.43	0.38	0.47	0.42	0.40	0.021	0.717	0.146
Alexin C4 (g/L)	0.098	0.089	0.077	0.088	0.081	0.074	0.006	0.367	0.354
NO (μmol/L)	34.3	32.3	33.6	35.8	35.5	34.5	0.59	0.287	0.101
NOS (U/mL)	19.3	18.7	18.9	18.9	20.4	18.0	0.66	0.834	0.820
LZM (μg/mL)	21.0	22.6	22.1	23.1	22.4	20.6	0.37	0.309	0.401

AMP, Astragalus membranaceus root powder; SEM, standard error of the mean; Ig, immunoglobulin; TNF-α, tumor necrosis factor-α; IL, interleukin; NO, nitric oxide; NOS, nitric oxide synthase; LZM, lysozyme.

¹⁾Control, AMP5, AMP10, AMP15, AMP20, and AMP30 were ram lambs fed the basal diet and the basal diet supplemented with AMP at a concentration of 5, 10, 15, 20, or 30 g/kg, respectively.

²⁾Dose response (linear or quadratic) to different levels of AMP supplementation.

^abMeans within a row with different superscripts differ (p<0.05).