Effects of probiotic bacteria on gastrointestinal motility in guinea-pig isolated tissue

Figure 1 Recorder tracing of the cumulative dose of VSL#3 (A), Bifidobacterium (B), Lactobacillus (C), Streptococcus thermophilus (D), Salmonella aboni (E), Escherichia coli (F), and Bacillus licheniformis (G) crude extracts on the contractility of Guinea-pig isolated ileum. Arrows indicate the addition of 50, 100, 150, 200, 250, 300 and 350 μL of each crude extract tested.

Figure 2 Recorder tracing of the cumulative dose of VSL#3 (A), Bifidobacterium (B), Lactobacillus (C), Streptococcus thermophilus (D), Salmonella aboni (E), Escherichia coli (F), and Bacillus licheniformis (G) crude extracts on the contractility of Guinea-pig isolated proximal colon. Arrows indicate the addition of 50, 100, 150, 200, 250, 300 and 350 μL of each crude extract tested.

Figure 3 Relaxation induced by crude extract of VSL#3 mixture, Lactobacillus, Streptococcus, Bifidobacterium, Escherichia coli, Salmonella aboni and Bacillus licheniformis preparations on Guinea-pig proximal colon. Relaxation was expressed as change in mg-tension per cm of chart paper in resting tone (A). Relaxation was expressed in percentage, by considering VSL#3 mixture-induced maximal relaxation as 100% (B). The volume (μL) indicates the minimal value exerting maximal relaxation effects. Each crude extract was prepared from a bacterial suspension equivalent to a concentration of 3.5 x 10⁹ CFUs/mL. Each point is the mean ± SE of 5 to 7 observations. Mean ± SE was given (P < 0.05).

Figure 4 Relaxation induced by B. infantis crude extract, cytoplasmatic fraction, membrane fraction and cell wall fraction on Guinea-pig proximal colon. Relaxation was expressed as change in mg-tension per cm of chart paper in resting tone (A). Relaxation was expressed in percentage, by considering crude extract-induced maximal relaxation as 100% (B). The volume (μL) indicates the minimal value exerting maximal relaxation effects. Each crude extract was prepared from a bacterial suspension equivalent to a concentration of 3.5 x 10⁹ CFUs/mL. Each point is the mean ± SE of 5 to 7 observations. Mean ± SE was given (P < 0.05).

Figure 5 SDS PAGE elec-trophoresis of B. infantis cytoplasmatic fraction (lane 1), cytoplasmatic non-proteinaceous components (lane 2), cytoplas-matic fraction proteinase K digested (lane 3), molecular weight marker (lane 4).

Figure 6 Relaxation induced by B. infantis cytoplasmatic fraction, cytoplasmatic proteinaceous components, cytoplasmatic non-proteinaceous components and cytoplasmatic fraction proteinase K digested on guinea-pig proximal colon Relaxation was expressed as change in mg-tension per cm of chart paper in resting tone (A). Relaxation was expressed in percentage, by considering cytoplasmatic fraction-induced maximal relaxation as 100% (B). The volume (μL) indicates the minimal value exerting maximal relaxation effects. Each crude extract was prepared from a bacterial suspension equivalent to a concentration of 3.5 x 10⁹ CFUs/mL. Each point is the mean ± SE of 5 to 7 observations.