Figure 6.

Impact of SCFA application or microbiota suppression on disease development in NZB/WF1 animals. (A) Lupus-prone NZB/WF1 mice were administered antibiotics (ATB) in the drinking water (n = 15–20 mice) versus untreated drinking water (n = 18–20 mice). Overall survival as well as anti-dsDNA autoantibodies and body weight were determined at 28 w. (B–D) Lupus-prone NZB/WF1 mice received a SCFA-mix or untreated drinking water. (B) Overall survival (n SCFA = 27 mice, n untreated = 32 mice), anti-dsDNA autoantibodies, proteinuria and kidney infiltration by leukocytes, as well as spleen weights as sign of lymphoproliferation were determined at 28 w (n SCFA = 17–22 mice, n untreated = 18–24 mice). (C) Body weight (n SCFA=26-29 mice, n untreated = 29 mice), colon length (n SCFA = 18 mice, n untreated = 19 mice) as well as intestinal permeability with FITC-Dextran applied by oral gavage, were determined at 28 w (n SCFA = 5 mice, n untreated = 4 mice; representative of two independent experiments). (D) Broad immune status evaluation in spleen of 28 w old NZB/WF1 mice receiving a SCFA-mix (n = 18) or untreated drinking water (n = 19). Depicted are CD44^hi expression on CD4⁺ and CD8⁺ as marker of T cell activation as well as frequencies of FoxP3⁺ T_reg and CD103⁺FoxP3⁺ effector T_reg. The Kaplan–Meier method was used for estimating OS in differently treated groups. All other results are expressed as scatter blots with mean ± SEM; each data point represents an individual mouse; p < 0.05 was considered significant, p > 0.2 is indicated as ns, not significant.