Fig. 5
Melatonin restores Muc2 depletion induced by VvpM in mouse ileum infected with V.vulnificus. Mice inoculated with boiled V. vulnificus (Cont), V. vulnificus (WT), VvpM mutant (mut), and VvpM complement (comp) at 1.3 × 109 CFU/mL, and sacrificed 16 h later. Mice were also given oral administration of melatonin (10 mg/kg) for 7 days prior to infection of V. vulnificus (WT). a Expression of Muc2 in mouse ileum was examined by immunofluorescence (Top panel, green) and immunohistochemical analysis (bottom panel, brown). Propidium iodide (PI, red) was used for nuclear counterstaining for immunofluorescence analysis. Scale bars, 100 μm. The mean numbers of Muc2-labeled cells per villi are shown in the bar graph. Data represent means ± S.E. n = 8. *, p < 0.01 vs. Cont. #, p < 0.001 vs. WT. $, p < 0.05 vs. VvpM mut. b Average scores of histopathologic damage index from mouse ileum are shown. Mel, melatonin. n = 8. *, p < 0.01 vs. Cont. #, p < 0.01 vs. WT. $, p < 0.051 vs. VvpM mut. c Iron-overloaded ICR mice received an oral administration of melatonin (10 mg/kg) daily for 7 days prior to i.p. inoculation with boiled V. vulnificus (Cont) and V. vulnificus (WT) at 1.2 × 102 CFU/ml. Survival rate of mice treated with melatonin relative to WT is shown n = 10. p < 0.05