Table 4 Effect of feeding BF on histomorphology and gene expression of rumen epithelium of sheep

Histomorphology of rumen epithelium

 Height of papillae, mm

3.19^a

2.03^c

2.70^b

0.16

0.001

 Width of papillae, mm

1.74^a

1.20^b

1.64^a

0.09

0.011

 Area of papillae, mm²

11.46^a

5.82b^c

9.02^ab

0.89

0.014

 Density of papillae, number/cm²

60.70

67.83

62.09

3.42

0.706

 Total area of papillae, mm²/cm²

652.98^a

393.87^b

643.91^a

45.08

0.009

 Total thickness, μm

150.48^a

126.02^b

148.11^a

4.09

0.008

Gene expression for nutrient transports

 DRA

0.42^b

1.00^a

1.12^a

0.10

< 0.001

 PAT1

0.63^b

1.01^a

1.02^a

0.06

0.004

 AE2

0.74^b

1.02^a

0.86^ab

0.05

0.032

 MCT1

2.44^a

1.00^b

1.78^a

0.21

0.002

 MCT4

1.10

1.01

1.17

0.11

0.551

 NHE1

0.45^b

1.00^a

0.84^a

0.08

< 0.001

 NHE2

0.81

1.01

0.84

0.05

0.290

 NHE3

0.80^b

1.00^a

0.78^b

0.04

0.005

 vH⁺ATPase

1.08

1.01

1.19

0.05

0.346

 Na⁺/K⁺ATPase

0.67^b

1.00^a

0.68^b

0.05

< 0.001

Gene expression for tight junction

 Claudin-1

0.55^c

1.01^b

1.22^a

0.09

< 0.001

 Claudin-4

0.90^b

1.02^b

1.44^a

0.08

0.005

 ZO-1

0.30^b

1.00^a

0.98^a

0.10

< 0.001

 Occludin

0.57^b

1.02^a

1.31^a

0.11

0.002

Gene expression for cell proliferation

 CDK-2

0.86

1.02

1.09

0.05

0.219

 CDK-4

0.92^b

1.00^b

1.32^a

0.06

0.001

 CDK-6

0.93^b

1.01^ab

1.22^a

0.05

0.042

 CyclinA2

0.56^c

1.04^b

1.54^a

0.13

0.001

 CyclinD1

0.93

1.04

0.95

0.07

0.790

 CyclinE1

1.10^b

1.01^b

1.37^a

0.06

0.007

Gene expression for cell apoptosis

 Caspase-3

0.91

1.03

0.87

0.06

0.549

 Caspase-8

0.64^c

1.01^a

0.80^b

0.05

0.002

 Bcl-2

0.65^b

1.05^ab

1.17^a

0.09

0.042

 Bad

0.55^b

1.01^a

0.74^b

0.06

0.002