Assessment of enteral bacteria.

The disruption of intestinal barrier leads to the penetration of noxious luminal compounds into the gut wall, causing further damage. This unit describes the assessment of enteric bacteria translocation into the intestinal wall of rats, an established method for the evaluation of bowel damage to the mucosal epithelial barrier. The Basic Protocol provided in the present unit describes collection and preparation of small intestine sample, performing of sample serial dilutions for bacterial culture, performing of the culture of aerobic and anaerobic bacteria on petri dishes, incubation of the cultured plates, and counting of bacterial colonies. The Support Protocols describes the procedures for the preparation of petri dishes for the culture, using different employable media for aerobes or anaerobes. The Alternate Protocol describes the use of the "inclusion method," suitable for the culture of anaerobic bacteria.