Fig. 5

Effect of rifaximin treatment on expression of the transcription factors BCL6, AHR, TBX21, GATA3 and RORC in PBMCs. Data represent the normalized target gene amount relative to controls which are considered as 1. Values are the mean ± SEM. CTL, controls; NMHE, patients without MHE; MHE, patients with MHE; 3, 6: patients with MHE after 3 and 6 months of rifaximin treatment. Values significantly different from controls are indicated by *. Values significantly different in patients with MHE compared to NMHE are indicated by α. Values significantly different after vs. before treatment are indicated by β (*/α/β p < 0.05; **/αα/ββ p < 0.01; ***/ααα/βββ p < 0.001)