Fig. 2

Depletion of gut bacteria is associated with an indiscriminate neuronal loss, affecting both nNOS⁺ nitrergic and ChAT⁺ cholinergic subpopulations. a Representative immunofluorescent images of ganglia in the submucosal and myenteric plexuses: HuC/D⁺ (green) and nNOS⁺ (magenta) neurons in the ileum of control and antibiotic (Abx)-treated mice. Scale bar: 30 μm. b Number of HuC/D⁺ neurons in both submucosal (left panel) and myenteric (middle panel) plexuses, and the number of nNOS⁺ neurons (right panel) in the myenteric plexus of the ileum. c Number of HuC/D⁺ neurons in both submucosal (left panel) and myenteric (middle panel) plexuses, and the number of nNOS⁺ neurons (right panel) in the myenteric plexus of the colon. d Representative immunofluorescent images of ganglia in the submucosal and myenteric plexuses: HuC/D⁺ (green) and ChAT⁺ (magenta) neurons in the ileum. Scale bar: 30 μm. e, f Number of HuC/D⁺ and ChAT⁺ neurons in both submucosal (left panels) and myenteric (right panels) in the e ileum and f colon. Data are expressed as mean ± SEM. n = 3–5. *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001; Student’s t test