Fig 6.

H. pylori-sustained Muribaculaceae abundance contributed to the restoration of intestinal barrier function damaged by DSS treatment. (A–H) C57BL/6J mice were orally inoculated with H. pylori PMSS1 strain (n = 8 animals) or the vehicle (n = 8 animals) for 1 month, followed by the administration of three cycles of 3% DSS (7 days/cycle), each separated by 7 days of regular water. (A) PCA diagram showing the β-diversity of mice fecal microbiota among the three groups at the species level. (B) ANOSIM test was applied to compare microbial structure dissimilarity between and within groups. Two-sided Wilcoxon rank-sum test. (C) The α-diversity of intestinal microbiota in the three groups at the species level was evaluated by chao1 (left), Shannon (middle), and Simpson (right) indices. (D and E) Analysis of the differences in the mice intestinal microbiota at the phylum (D) or species (E) levels. Dot size indicates the −log₁₀ transformed P values, color coding based on normalized expression levels. Two-sided Wilcoxon rank-sum test. (F) The concentrations of seven types of short-chain fatty acid (SCFA) in mice colon tissue from each group were determined by absolute quantitative metabolomics. (G) The fluorescence intensities of Claudin 1, Occludin, and ZO-1 in the mice colon were determined by immunofluorescence staining. Scale bar = 100 µm. (H) The protein levels of Claudin 1 and Occludin in the mice colon were determined and quantified by western blotting. GAPDH was used as the internal control. All the quantitative data were presented as means ± SD. *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, and ***P < 0.001.