Fig. 1.

Effect of bacterial cell-free supernatants of Clade 2 C. difficile strains in the ligated murine ileal loop. Bacteria-free supernatants from the indicated genotypes were prepared in TYT-broth. 7–10 mice per group were inoculated with 0.3 ml of supernatant in ligated ileal loops. Four hours after inoculation, mice were euthanized and data was recorded. a ratio weight/length, bars represent means of the normalized weight of ileal sections. b myeloperoxidase activity (MPO) for each group. Cytokines levels were measured on intestinal tissue. c TNF-α, d IL-1β, and e IL-6. *p <0.05 One-way ANOVA followed by Bonferroni’s correction. The mean of measurements obtained for control groups (PBS, TYT-broth and non-toxigenic supernatant) is indicated by a dashed line