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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2016 Jun 16.
Published in final edited form as: Nature. 2015 Feb 25;519(7541):92–96. doi: 10.1038/nature14232

Figure 4. Altered microbiota is necessary and sufficient for emulsifier-induced metabolic syndrome.

Figure 4

(A-D) Conventionally-housed and germ-free (E-H) Swiss-Webster mice were exposed to drinking water containing CMC or P80 (1.0%) for 12 weeks. (A, E) Body weight over time, (B, F) fat-pad mass, (C, G) food intake, (D, H) 15-hours fasting blood glucose concentration. (I-P) Germ-free Swiss-Webster mice were conventionalized via microbiota transplant from mice that received standard drinking water or drinking water containing CMC or P80 (1.0%). (I-K) Confocal microscopy analysis of microbiota localization; Muc2 (green), actin (purple), bacteria (red), and DNA (Blue). Bar = 20μm. (L) Distances of closest bacteria to intestinal epithelial cells per condition over 5 high-powered fields per mouse. Pictures are representatives of 10 biological replicates. (M) Body weight over time, (N) fat-pad mass, and (O) 15-hours fasting blood glucose concentration. Data are the means +/- S.E.M. (n=5 for A-L, n=3 for M-P). Points are from individual mice. Significance was determined using one-way ANOVA corrected for multiple comparisons with Sidak test (* indicates p<0.05) or 2-way group ANOVA corrected for multiple comparisons with Bonferroni test (# indicates p<0.05) compared to control group.