Metabolism of Bile Salts in Mice Influences Spore Germination in Clostridium difficile
Figure 5
Modification of taurocholate by cecal flora and its ability to stimulate CFU recovery from spores.
Contents of the ceca from freshly euthanized, clindaymin-treated (striped bars) or untreated (black bars) mice were isolated under anaerobic conditions, washed 5 times to remove any bile salts present, and incubated with 0.1% taurocholate for 24 hours at 37° C. Samples were pelleted, and the supernatant was boiled and used in A) bile salt quantitation and B) CFU recovery assays. The CFU/ml were compared to the CFU/ml recovered from spores incubated with taurocholate, which was considered 100% germination. Data are the mean of at least three experiments, with error bars representing the standard error of the mean. (* p<0.05, Student's t-test).