FIGURE 8.

Microbial population present in the large intestine. Mice of 21, 28, 35, 42, 54, 61, and 180 days old were fed with: Conventional diet, L. casei CRL431 and L. paracasei CNCM-I 1518, for 7 and 5 days, respectively. At the end of this time, samples of large intestine were collected and total anaerobic bacteria, lactobacilli, and enterobacteria population were analyzed by plate count agar. Results were expressed as CFU/ml per gram of large intestine (mean ± SEM). Three independent experiments were performed.