Fig. 1.

Effects of ABX on spleen weight and spleen cell types

A: Schedule of the experiment. ABX or water was injected as drinking water for 14 days. Fresh feces samples were collected in the morning of day 15. Subsequently, plasma, spleen, and cerebral cortex were collected in the same day. B: ABX induced a significant reduction in spleen weight in mice (Two-tailed unpaired Student’s T test, P < 0.0001). Representative photograph of spleen from the two groups. C: FACS analysis of spleen cell populations in all mice (Mann-Whitney test: 11b⁺Ly6c⁺ neutrophils, P = 0.0207; NK1.1⁺ NK cells, P = 0.0207; F4/80⁺ macrophages, P = 0.0070; CD3⁺CD8⁺ T cells, P = 0.002). D: Representative FACS dot plots of neutrophils, NK cells, macrophages, and CD8⁺ T cells. E: Spearman correlation analysis of spleen cell population and spleen weight in all mice. Values represent mean ± S.E.M. (CON: n = 8. ABX: n = 9). *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, ***P < 0.001. N.S.: not significant.