FIG 4.

Enhancement of gluconeogenesis by T. musculis depends on choline downstream metabolism. (a) Serum levels of several selected choline derivatives in WT, HVEM KO, and HVEM KO mice that had been treated with metronidazole for 1 week. n = 4 to 9 mice/group. (b to d) Eight-week-old male T. musculis-bearing HVEM KO mice (b and c) or T. musculis-free WT mice (d) were treated with 1% 3,3-dimethyl-1-butanol (DMB) in drinking water for 1 week, and PTT was then performed. AUC, the area under the curve. n = 5 mice/group. (e and f) Eight-week-old male HVEM KO mice were placed on a standard chow diet with or without supplementation of 0.25% 3,3′-diindolylmethane (DIM) added to the diet for 4 weeks, and then PTT was performed. AUC, the area under the curve. n = 5 mice/group. (g) Relative hepatic expressions of the indicated key genes involved in gluconeogenesis in HVEM KO mice with or without DIM intervention. n = 5 mice/group. (h and i) Eight-week-old male T. musculis-free WT mice were placed on a standard chow diet with or without supplementation of 0.25% DIM added to the diet for 4 weeks, and then PTT was performed. AUC, the area under the curve. n = 5 mice/group. The experiments were repeated at least two times. The data represent means ± the SEM. *, P < 0.05; **, P < 0.01; ***, P < 0.001.