Fig. 7
Verification of the effects of 3-IAld and PGD2 infusion on rumen epithelial and muscular development in vivo. a Schematic of experimental design. The Hu lambs (11 days of age) were separated from their dams and fed mixed goat milk using an artificial nursing bottle. After 3 days of adaptation, 24 lambs were randomly assigned to three groups with the following treatments: normal saline infusion (Con, n = 8), 3-IAld infusion (3-IAld, n = 8), and PGD2 infusion (PGD2, n = 8). At 42 days of age, the lambs were slaughtered and the ruminal epithelium and muscle tissue were collected for analysis. b Representative pictures of the rumen and epithelia at 42 days of age in the study. c Effect of 3-IAld and PGD2 infusion on rumen epithelia thickness in only milk-fed lambs. d Representative hematoxylin and eosin staining images of the rumen epithelia and muscular layer. e Effect of 3-IAld and PGD2 infusion on thickness of rumen epithelia and rumen muscle layer in only milk-fed lambs. f Effect of 3-IAld and PGD2 infusion on expression of genes involved in AhR-Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathways in the rumen epithelia of only milk-fed lambs. g Effect of 3-IAld and PGD2 infusion on expression of genes involved in Ca2+ signaling pathways in the rumen muscle of only milk-fed lambs. Data represented the mean ± SEM, n = 6 per group. Means with different letters were significantly different (P < 0.05) via one-way ANOVA followed by post hoc Tukey tests