Commensal Akkermansia muciniphila Exacerbates Gut Inflammation in Salmonella Typhimurium-Infected Gnotobiotic Mice (original) (raw)
Figure 2
Presence of A. muciniphila renders S. Typhimurium the dominant species in gnotobiotic SIHUMI mice.
Cecal contents were collected from gnotobiotic C3H mice, differing in their microbial status: (A) Mice with a defined microbial community of eight bacterial species (SIHUMI), (B) SIHUMI mice additionally colonized with A. muciniphila (SIHUMI-A), (C) SIHUMI mice infected with S. Typhimurium (SIHUMI-S) and (D) SIHUMI mice colonized with A. muciniphila and 10 days later infected with S. Typhimurium (SIHUMI-AS) (see Figure 1). Total DNA was extracted and bacterial cell numbers were quantified by qPCR with primers targeting the HSP60 gene of the SIHUMI members, the 16S rRNA gene of A. muciniphila and the ttr-region of S. Typhimurium. Calculation of the cell numbers was based on DNA obtained from cell suspensions containing known cell numbers of the targeted bacterial species (see materials and methods). Presence of A. muciniphila in SIHUMI-AS mice is attributed to an increase in the proportion of S. Typhimurium cells at the expense of other community members showing reduced proportion of SIHUMI members. Ten animals per group were used. The bacterial cell numbers and P-values for the differences between the groups are provided in Table 1.