Fig. 5. B. uniformis administration altered intestinal SCFA concentrations and hepatic glycogen levels in SPF mice.
(A) Experimental schedule. The mice were orally administered PBS or B. uniformis (2 × 108 CFU/day) for 10 weeks, and the mice in training (+) groups were subjected to weekly swimming exercises. (B) SCFA concentrations in the cecal content of PBS-administered mice subjected (PBStra+, n = 10) and not subjected to exercise (PBStra−, n = 10) and B. uniformis–administered mice subjected (BUtra+, n = 10) and not subjected to exercise (BUtra−, n = 10). (C) Hepatic glycogen content in PBStra− (n = 10), PBStra+ (n = 10), BUtra− (n = 10), and BUtra+ (n = 10) mice. (D and E) Gene ontology (GO) analysis results of differentially expressed genes in the liver. The enriched GO terms identified using DAVID are listed in (D) [PBStra− (n = 6) versus PBStra+ (n = 6)] and (E) [BUtra− (n = 6) versus BUtra+ (n = 6)]. Statistical significance was analyzed using Fisher’s exact test. P < 0.01 was considered significant. (F) Reverse transcription qPCR analysis of the hepatic Cpt1a and Pck1 expression in PBStra− (n = 10), PBStra+ (n = 10), BUtra− (n = 10), and BUtra+ (n = 10) mice. The box-and-whisker plot illustrates the distribution of values within each group (B, C, and F). In (B), the Tukey-Kramer test was used for the statistical analysis of SCFAs, with the exception of isobutyrate, which was analyzed using the Steel-Dwass test. In (C), the Tukey-Kramer test was used for the analysis. In (F), the Tukey-Kramer test and Steel-Dwass tests were used for the analyses of Cpt1a and Pck1, respectively. These tests were selected on the basis of the outcomes of the normality test. All statistical tests were two-tailed.