Fig. 2.

Enhancement of L. rhamnosus abundance in the gut by mycelia and reduction of IL-6 in the lung by feeding mice with mycelia or L. rhamnosus EH8 plus mycelia. (A) L. rhamnosus EH8 (L.r) (10⁷ CFU/mL) was incubated in MRS broth containing phenol red with or without 2% fungal mycelia (FM) for 24 h. Mycelium fermentation of L. rhamnosus EH8 was indicated by the colour change of phenol red to orange-yellow and a OD₅₆₂ reduction. (B) ICR mice were fed with 2% fungal mycelia in PBS or the same volume of PBS. The levels of IL-6 in BALF were measured by ELISA. (C) The abundance of L. rhamnosus in facal samples analyzed by RT PCR after feeding with fungal mycelia or PBS. (D) The levels of IL-6 in BALF were quantified in ICR mice fed with L. rhamnosus EH8 in the presence (L.r+FM) or absence (L.r) of 2% fungal mycelia. Data are the mean ± SD of three independent experiments. **p < 0.01. ***p < 0.001 (two-tailed t-test). Five mice per group were used in each experiment.