Fig. 3

Characteristics and proteomic analysis of prostate in mice after 3 weeks of SD. A Photos of prostate and corresponding sizes (prostate index) analysis. B HE staining showing the typical pathological changes of prostatitis. C Quantification of urinary frequency by urine spots assay. D-G ELISA analysis of cytokines in serum, including IL-6, TNF-α, PGE2 and IFN-β. H-K ELISA analysis of cytokines in prostate tissue, including IL-6, TNF-α, PGE2 and IFN-β. Proteomic analysis of control and SD mice including (L) KEGG pathway enrichment, (M) hierarchical clustering heatmap, and (N) volcano plot of differentially expressed proteins. O Proteomic analysis showing the underlying mechanism of prostatitis induction. P Analysis of MT level in serum after 3 weeks of SD. Q-R Analysis of DHT level in serum and prostate tissue after 3 weeks of SD. S Schematic hypothesis of the cGAS-STING pathway activation by the dual deficiency of MT and DHT for inducing inflammatory microenvironment in prostate. Data were presented as means ± SEM (n = 5). Statistical significance was calculated using the Student’s t test (A, C, D-K, and P-R). ns, no significance, **P < 0.01, and ***P < 0.001