Fig. 7: Obeticholic acid activates FXR signaling, reduces C. difficile burden and ameliorates CDI. | Mucosal Immunology

Fig. 7: Obeticholic acid activates FXR signaling, reduces C. difficile burden and ameliorates CDI.

From: Obeticholic acid ameliorates severity of Clostridioides difficile infection in high fat diet-induced obese mice

Fig. 7

Experimental plan: HFD-fed mice were pre-treated with antibiotics and challenged with 1×103 C. difficile (VPI 10463) spores. Animals were gavaged with 10 mg/kg/day OCA or vehicle every 24 h and monitored daily for clinical symptoms (a). mRNA expression of fgf15 in distal ileum (b), Cyp7a1 in liver tissue (c), and C4 concentration in serum (d) on day 10 of CDI. Disease severity was evaluated based on diarrhea score (e), duration of diarrhea (f), and percent body weight change after CDI (g). C. difficile burden in stool samples (h), cecal contents (i), and C. difficile toxin A/B levels in cecal contents (j). Extent of tissue damage was evaluated based on changes in histological findings (k–m) and colon length (n) on day 10 after infection. Number of neutrophils in peripheral blood (o) and cecal tissue (p) on day 10 after infection. Data are means ± SEM. n = 6 for b–d; n = 9–14 for e–n; n = 6 for o and p; data presented in e–n are pooled from 2 independent experiments. *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001; two-tailed Student’s t-test.

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