Fig. 5

Effects of butyrate on experimental autoimmune MG (EAMG) mice. (A) Methods for MG induction in the EAMG mouse model and butyrate administration (n = 5). (B) Clinical scores of EAMG mice that were or were not treated with butyrate (F = 44.67, p = 0.0339 for difference between EAMG and EAMG + Butyrate with ANOVA). (C) Levels of serum anti-AChR-Ab antibodies were determined by ELISA from the complete Freund’s adjuvant (CFA) group, EAMG group, and butyrate treatment group (F = 65.63, p = 0.002 for difference between EAMG and EAMG + Butyrate with ANOVA). (D) Motion tracks for control mice, EAMG mice fed with or without butyrate (F = 55.43, p = 0.0023 for difference between EAMG and EAMG + Butyrate with ANOVA). (E, F) Percentages of CD4⁺FOXP3⁺ Tregs (F = 26.19, p = 0.0019 for difference between EAMG and EAMG + Butyrate with ANOVA) and surface CTLA-4 expression on Tregs (F = 14.05, p = 0.0349 for difference between EAMG and EAMG + Butyrate with ANOVA) in the spleen. (G) Serum levels of IFN-γ (F = 35.36, p = 0.0059 for difference between EAMG and EAMG + Butyrate with ANOVA), IL-17 A (F = 55.81, p = 0.0005 for difference between EAMG and EAMG + Butyrate with ANOVA) and TGF-β (F = 35.95, p = 0.0003 for difference between EAMG and EAMG + Butyrate with ANOVA) in mice were detected by ELISA. Each dot represents an individual sample. Data are shown as the mean ± SD, * p < 0.05, ** p < 0.01, *** p < 0.001, ns = not significant