Antibiotic pre-treatment rendered C57BL/6 mice susceptible to <i>E</i>. <i>histolytica</i> colitis.

<p><b>(a)</b> The Shannon diversity index of stool samples collected from antibiotic treated mice (n = 10) was compared with those from untreated control (n = 10) (C57BL/6 mice which were not challenged with <i>E</i>. <i>histolytica</i>). Then, they were infected with 2 x 10⁶ <i>E</i>. <i>histolytica</i> trophozoites intracecally. <b>(b, c)</b> Body weight changes and clinical illness score were measured for assessing systemic disease severity. <b>(d)</b> Fecal occult blood was examined for assessing intestinal damage. <b>(e)</b> Parasite burden in stool was assessed by qPCR. <b>(f)</b> Lipocalin-2 (Neutrophil Gelatinase-Associated Lipocalin) in stool was measured for assessing neutrophil mediated gut inflammation. *<i>P<0</i>.<i>05</i>, **<i>P<0</i>.<i>01</i>, ***<i>P<0</i>.<i>001</i> by Welch’s unequal variance t-test (a, b, e& f), Mann-Whitney U-test (c) or chi-squared test (d). NS, not significant. Error bars represent s.e.m.