Fig. 3

The gut microbiota from ARDS/CAP patients causes colonic barrier injury and inflammation in mice. a Hematoxylin/Eosin (HE) staining showing the colonic structure changes in mice receiving the faecal microbiota from ARDS/CAP patients (ARDS-R) or normal control subjects (CTRL-R); Image scale: 200 × magnification. (b) Length of colonic crypt. c The number of colonic goblet cells. d, e The mRNA expression levels of (d) ZO-1 and (e) Occludin in the colon of ARDS-R and CTRL-R mice. f, h Immunofluorescent assay of colonic ZO-1 and the corresponding quantitative result; Image scale: 200 × magnification. g, i Immunofluorescent assay of colonic Occludin and the corresponding quantitative result; Image scale: 200 × magnification. j–l The mRNA expression levels of (j) IL-6, (k) TNF-α and (l) IL-1β in the colon of ARDS-R and CTRL-R mice. The statistic difference of various indicators between two groups was evaluated by two-tailed unpaired student’s T test and a statistically significant was defined when p < 0.05. Significant level: *p < 0.05; **p < 0.01