Figure 2. Numbers of total anaerobic bacteria and lactobacilli determined by cultivation.

For each treatment group (controls, DSS, L. reuteri, L. reuteri+DSS), data are shown for both loosely and firmly adherent colonic mucus. Different letters (a–c) above the bars indicate significant differences in bacterial counts between groups or mucus layers (p<0.05). # Lactobacilli were only detected in two of the three samples.