Fig. 4

Ketogenic diet alleviated EAU inflammation and restored the Th17/Treg balance. a Representative fundus images and clinical scores of eyes from the NDC, NDE and KDE group, captured on day 14 post-immunization through fundus photography. Red arrows indicate inflammatory exudation and vascular deformation. Data represented as mean ± SD. Significance was determined using one-way ANOVA. ***P < 0.001, ****P < 0.0001. b Representative histopathological images (hematoxylin and eosin staining) and pathological scores of retinas from the NDC, NDE and KDE group, captured on day 14 post-immunization. Red arrows indicate infiltration of inflammatory cells and retinal folding. Data represented as mean ± SD. Significance was determined using one-way ANOVA. ****P < 0.0001. c Pie charts showing the percentages of the immune cell subsets in CDLNs from NDE and KDE groups. d Wind rose diagrams showing the numbers of upregulated and downregulated DEGs in the KDC/NDC and KDE/NDE comparison groups. e Wind rose diagrams showing the numbers of upregulated and downregulated DEGs in the NDE/NDC and KDE/KDC comparison groups. f Pie charts showing the percentages of the T cell subsets in CDLNs from NDE and KDE groups. G Violin plots showing expression of Il17a and Foxp3 in CD4⁺T cells in NDE and KDE groups. h-i Proportions of Th17 cells (h), Th1 cells (i) and Treg cells (j) in CDLN CD4⁺T cells measured by flow cytometry on day 14 post-immunization from the NDC, NDE and KDE group. Data expressed as mean ± SD. Significance was determined using one-way ANOVA. ns P > 0.05, *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, ***P < 0.001