Parasite isolate, storage and recovery of C. rodentium,
animals, culture medium and growth conditions
The T. spiralis isolate ISS534 used in the present study was
obtained from domestic pigs in Henan Province, China, and maintained in
Kunming mice in the Jilin Provincial Engineering Research Center of
Animal Probiotics. C. rodentium ATCC 51459 was provided by Dr
Haining Shi (Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA) and cultured in
Luria-Bertani medium at 37°C with shaking. Male BALB/c mice (specific
pathogen free, SPF) aged 6-8 weeks were purchased from Beijing Hua fu
kang Biotechnology. The study protocol was approved by the Jilin
Agriculture University Veterinary Research Ethics Committee, and all
procedures were performed in strict accordance with the guidelines of
the Chinese National Institute of Health Guide for the Care and Use of
Laboratory Animals. Care was taken to minimize the number of animals
used and to reduce their suffering. Before the experiment, the mice were
allowed to eat and drink freely for at least 4 days to adapt to the
feeding environment. Throughout the experiment, the mice were allowed to
eat and drink freely, and the bedding materials were changed regularly
to ensure an excellent feeding environment.