Table 1. Effects of bacterial colonization on the width (W) and length (L) of the apical intracellular junction in the ileum of CV, GF and Lmix-colonized mice.

	Tight junctions (nm)		Adherens junctions (nm)
Group	W	L	W	L
CV	10±1	336±40	30±2	226±50
GF	10±1	203±50*	40±10*	181±40*
Lmix	11±3	236±80	30±7	234±70

Abbreviations: CV, conventional; GF, germ-free; Lmix, Lactobacillus mixture.

The values are expressed as the mean±s.e.m. (nm) and were obtained from 10–15 measurements per sample, and n=5 samples were assessed per group.

^*P<0.05, significant difference of the GF group versus the Lmix and CV groups.