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Fig. 5 | BMC Microbiology

Fig. 5

From: Lactobacillus crispatus inhibits growth of Gardnerella vaginalis and Neisseria gonorrhoeae on a porcine vaginal mucosa model

Fig. 5

Conditioned media supports L. crispatus-induced pH changes, inhibiting growth of G. vaginalis on PVM. Media from overnight aerobic broth culture of L. crispatus was sterile filtered and mixed with unbuffered RPMI to achieve pH 5.5. This conditioned media (CM) was placed under transwells and relevant explants were inoculated with L. crispatus. After 48 h, relevant explants were inoculated with G. vaginalis. Experiments were performed under anaerobic conditions and the pH of media below explants was monitored over time. a Media under uncolonized controls (CNTL) and those colonized with G. vaginalis (GV) alone remained at pH 5.0 – 5.5 while those colonized with L. crispatus (LC) alone or co-colonized with both organisms (LC + GV) were reduced to pH 4.0 (N = 6, n = 1). b The presence of L. crispatus inhibited G. vaginalis growth. Dotted line represents GV inoculum. Asterisk indicates significant difference in growth between the two groups shown (p < 0.0001). c, d D- and L-lactate levels in the CM below transwells from experiment (a) were analyzed at 96 h. CM below explants colonized with L. crispatus (LC and LC + GV) showed a significant increase in lactic acid when compared with uncolonized controls (CM) and G. vaginalis (GV) alone (p < 0.0001). e A comparison of D- and L- lactate levels in CM below LC alone infections shows that D-lactate is produced at ~2X the level of L-lactate (p < 0.002). (C-E) Data shown are combined (N = 5, n = 1)

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