FIG 1.
Treatment with a cocktail of five antibiotics reduced CVB3 shedding and lethality. Male C57BL/6 PVR+/+ IFNAR−/− mice were left treated or treated with a combination of 5 antibiotics (ampicillin, neomycin, streptomycin, metronidazole, and vancomycin) for 5 days by oral gavage followed by administration in drinking water available ad libitum for 9 days prior to oral inoculation with 5 × 107 PFU of CVB3. (A and B) Viral titers in feces specimens collected at 24, 48, and 72 h postinoculation (A) or tissues collected at 72 h postinoculation (B) were determined by plaque assay. Data represent means ± standard errors of the means (SEM). *, P < 0.05; **, P < 0.001; ***, P < 0.0001 (Mann-Whitney test). (C) Survival of untreated or antibiotic-treated mice orally inoculated with CVB3. *, P < 0.05 (log rank test). n = 9 to 25 mice per group from 3 to 7 independent experiments. Sm. Int, small intestine.