Fig. 2. Gut bacteria convert TCS-G to TCS in vitro and in vivo.

a Fecal bacteria from mice and humans convert TCS-G to TCS in vitro (n = 3 per group). b C57BL/6 mice were treated with 80 ppm TCS via diet, with or without an antibiotic cocktail in drinking water, for 4 weeks. c Antibiotic treatment reduced TCS and increased TCS-G in fecal content of the mice (n = 10 mice per group). d C57BL/6 mice were pre-treated with or without antibiotics for 7 days and then dosed with a one-time oral gavage of 8 mg/kg TCS. e, f Antibiotic treatment reduced TCS and increased TCS-G in colon digesta of mice in a time-dependent manner. Left: time-course change in colon digesta (n = 5 mice per group for each time point). Right: area under curve (AUC) analysis. g Conventional or germ-free C57BL/6 mice were treated with a one-time oral gavage of 8 mg/kg TCS. h Compared with conventional mice, germ-free mice had reduced TCS and increased TCS-G in colon digesta (n = 5 mice per group for each time point). The data are mean ± SEM. To compare the two groups, Shapiro–Wilk test was used to verify the normality of data; when data were normally distributed, statistical significance was determined using two-sided t test; otherwise, significance was determined by Wilcoxon–Mann–Whitney test. *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, ***P < 0.001, ****P < 0.0001. Source data are provided with this paper. TCS triclosan, TCS-G triclosan-glucuronide, TCS-sulfate triclosan-sulfate. Part of the picture was adapted from motifolio.com.