A Comparison of Intestinal Contents in Germfree and Conventional Mice

Abstract

To explain the influence of intestinal microbes on the composition of gut contents of mice, contents from five parts of the guts of mice were collected and analyzed. Male ICR strain of germfree (GF) and conventional (CV) mice were given 1 % chromic oxide supplemented autoclaved CL-2 diet for 3 days before sacrificing. Mice were killed at 80 days of age and contents of the stomach, anterior part (half) of the small intestine, posterior part of the small intestine, cecum, colon and rectum were col-lected. Dry matter, total nitrogen (N), ether extracts, ash, chromic oxide and the ratio of protein N to total N of gut contents were measured. Total N and ether extract per 100 mg of dry matter and chromic oxide were higher in CV mice than in GF in whole gut contents, but in the case of ash, there was no difference between GF and CV mice. In the ratio of protein N to total N, GF and CV mice showed almost the same tendencies in the stomach, small intestine and cecum, but the colon and rectum contents of CV mice gave higher values than those of GF mice.