Figure 3.

E. coli-binding and internalizing capacity of APCs. (A–C) E. coli-binding and internalizing capacity of APCs was measured by counting colony-forming units (CFUs) at baseline (T₀). To measure APCs’ ability to kill uptaken bacteria, CFUs were counted after 2 h incubation at 37 °C (T₂). Mean values were represented for each APC in control vs. iBP rats (A), CCl₄ vs. CCl₄+iBP (B), and BDL vs. BDL+iBP (C). (D) Representative plates of E. coli CFUs grown at T₀ and T₂ in pre-incubated LSECs with E. coli. * p < 0.01 compared with the same cell type at T₀ in groups without iBP; ^$ p < 0.01 compared with other cell types at T₀ in the same group.