Fig. 4. The effects of B. longum or synbiotic mixtures of B. longum and GOS on epidermal barrier proteins in DNCB-induced atopic dermatitis-like skin. Gene (A) and protein (B and C) expressions of FLG and gene expression of LOR (D) were evaluated by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction and immunostaining. FLG was visualized with Cy3 (red). Wheat germ agglutinin-conjugated FITC (green) was used to stain the cytoskeleton. Nuclei were visualized with DAPI (blue). The data are shown as the mean ± SEM of 2 independent experiments. Each point indicates individual mice (n = 5 mice per group; scale bar = 100 μm).

FLG, filaggrin; DNCB, dinitrochlorobenzene; B. longum, Bifidobacterium longum; GOS, galactooligosaccharide; LOR, loricrin.

^*P < 0.05, ^†P < 0.01, ^‡P < 0.001 by one-way ANOVA with Tukey-Kramer test.