Early Exposure to Gut Microbiome Reduces Hepatocellular Carcinoma Risks in Mice

Figure 1

C57Bl/6 mice received individual intraperitoneal (i.p.) injections (DEN) of 20 mg/kg in mice and 2 mg/kg in HBV mice at ages 10-14 days to induce HCC. Before experiments, the parent mice were gut-sterilized and bred to produce one or two generations of babies to make sure that the mice are absolutely in GF status. Both C57Bl/6 (B6-high DEN) and HBV (HBV-low DEN) mice were randomly divided into four groups (germ-free (GF; no exposure) or various time-to-exposure (TTE; 5 or 10 weeks after birth or exposure ever since conception (that is, 5 wk TTE group, 10 wk TTE group, or SPF group)) and were moved to a specific pathogen-free (SPF) housing environment. Shown are representative images of tumors and H&E sections.