Research Article

Prevotella Induces the Production of Th17 Cells in the Colon of Mice

Figure 1

ABX treatment reduced both gut microbial abundance and mRNA expression of il-17a in the colon. (a) Experimental design. Six- to eight-week-old C57BL/6 female mice were treated for 4 weeks with a cocktail of broad-spectrum antibiotics (ampicillin, neomycin sulfate, vancomycin, and metronidazole) in drinking water (ABX) or were given water without antibiotics (non-ABX). Then, the ABX-treated mice were divided into 3 groups: the WT+BM group was gavaged with blank medium for 4 weeks, the WT+PM group was gavaged with P. melaninogenica for 4 weeks, and the WT+PC group was gavaged with P. copri for 4 weeks. (b) Evaluation of the presence of microbial flora in the faeces of ABX-treated mice by culture in either aerobic or anaerobic conditions. (c) Colonic il-17a mRNA expression in the ABX vs. non-ABX groups. The graph represents , and data were analyzed using the unpaired Student’s -test. (d) The faecal microbiota was detected by qPCR using phylum-specific primers. Relative Ct value compared to universal 16S rRNA gene Ct value (Ct) and the mean of Ct values in the non-ABX group (∆∆Ct). The graph shows the median with interquartile range, and data were analyzed using the Mann-Whitney test. Statistical significance is displayed as and .
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