The Interaction of Large Bowel Microflora with the Colonic Mucus Barrier
Figure 2
Rat colonic mucus secretion dynamics assessed in the presence of 7 mM butyrate in saline (grey line) and isotonic saline (black line). animals for each treatment. After 60 minutes, the loosely adherent mucus layer is removed by suction (A). Over the subsequent 60 minutes (B), the mucus replenishment rate was approximately three times higher in the presence of butyrate versus the saline control ( when compared by paired, nonparametric -test). Over the last hour of assessment when the mucus barrier had reached equilibrium (C), the total maximal mucus thickness in the presence of butyrate was significantly lower than the saline control group ( when compared by unpaired nonparametric -test).
