Lactobacillus acidophilus attenuates polyethylene glycol-induced susceptibility to Citrobacter rodentium infection via microbiota modulation

Figure 5 Co-house for 7 days could eliminate the effect of polyethylene glycol. A: Mice were separately housed and co-housed for 7 days post polyethylene glycol (PEG) administration and prior to the infection of Citrobacter rodentium (CR); B: CR load in the feces; C and D: Representative hematoxylin and eosin staining (20 ×) and pathological score of the colon epithelium; E: Principal coordinate analysis of fecal microbiota among pre-PEG, 7-day post PEG of separately house and 7-day post PEG of co-house; F-H: Shannon, Chao, and ACE indices of operational taxonomic unit levels of fecal microbiota among 3 groups; I: Kruskal-Wallis H test for differences among 3 groups; J-M: Relative abundance of Lactobacillus, Akkermansia, Escherichia-Shigella and Alistipes on genus levels. Data are expressed as mean ± SD; statistical significance was determined by a two-sided Student’s t-test. CR: Citrobacter rodentium; PEG: Polyethylene glycol; CFUs: Colony-forming units; PCoA: Principal coordinate analysis; OTU: Operational taxonomic unit.