Figure 5.

Mice were treated with vehicle or antibiotic mixture (abx) and sacrificed 2 weeks (wks) later; otherwise, mice were treated with abx and sacrificed 2, 4, or 6 weeks (wks) post antibiotic wash-out (w/o). The longitudinal muscle myenteric plexus (LMMP) was obtained at each time point, subjected to RNA extraction, and quantitative PCR of the neurotrophic factors: glial-derived neurotrophic factor (Gdnf) (a), nerve growth factor (Ngf) (b), ciliary neurotrophic factor (Cntf) (c), neurotrophin 5 (Ntf5) (d), neurotrophin 3 (Ntf3) (e), and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (Bdnf) (f). Light grey: vehicle; dark grey: abx; intermediate grey: wash-out. Data are reported as mean ± SD of the calculated fold changes over mRNA levels detected in vehicle-treated mice using the ΔC_T method. Number of mice for each experimental group = 6 mice per group. ^c denotes p < 0.05 vs. vehicle-treated mice.