Gut Flora Depletion in IL-10 Knockout Mice

IL-10^−/− knockout mice (in C57BL/10 background, B10) were bred and maintained under specific pathogen-free (SPF) conditions in the facilities of the “Forschungsinstitut für Experimentelle Medizin” (FEM, Charité - Universitätsmedizin, Berlin, Germany). To eradicate the commensal gut flora, mice were transferred to sterile cages and treated by adding a mix of ampicillin (1 g/L; Ratiopharm), vancomycin (500 mg/L; Cell Pharm), ciprofloxacin (200 mg/L; Bayer Vital), imipenem (250 mg/L; MSD), and metronidazole (1 g/L; Fresenius) to the drinking water ad libitum starting at 3 weeks of age right after weaning (Heimesaat et al., 2006 (link); Haag et al., 2012a (link)). Age matched female mice were subjected to the quintuple antibiotic treatment for approximately 4 months before the infection experiments.