Figure 3.

The effect of L. plantarum on several biochemical markers such as IL-17A (a), MMP-9 (b), and MCP-1 (c), was measured on different experimental days 14, 21, and 28. CO—healthy control group, AA—group of controls with adjuvant arthritis (AA), CO-LB—a control group of healthy animals administered with L. plantarum (LB), AA-LB—group of animals with AA administered with LB, AA-MTX—rats with AA treated with methotrexate (MTX), AA-LB-MTX—group of rats with AA receiving combinational therapy of MTX and LB. Values are expressed as mean ± S.E.M. Statistical significance was evaluated by applying ANOVA for independent variables: *** p < 0.001, ** p < 0.01 vs. CO group; +++ p < 0.001, ++ p <0.01, + p < 0.05 vs. AA group.