Article Figures & Data
Figures
- Figure 1:
Quality Control of Experimental Conditions
• (A) Results from fluorescence microscopy suggest that the blank strips (top row) were clear with no biofilm or C. albicans; the MRS-grown C. albicans (middle row) showed uniform biofilm matrix while the SD-grown C. albicans (bottom row) showed a dense biofilm with yeast forms.
• (B) Mean (wider blue bars) and coefficient of variation (narrow pink bars) of the absorbance optical density from XTT-assay based on the medium (MRS or SD) used for culturing C. albicans and whether the control was used in later analyses for probiotic treatment using the bacteria or the supernatant.
• (C) Bland-Altman plot for agreement between the absorbance values obtained from the MRS-grown and SD-grown C. albicans. The limits of agreement (dashed horizontal lines) were at 0.139 and −0.227 and the mean difference was −0.044 indicating slightly lower estimates of OD from the MRS-grown C. albicans. Pittman's p for equal variation in two methods was 0.008.
- Figure 2:
Effect of Probiotics on Biofilm Formation by C. Albicans
• (A) Qualitative results from fluorescence microscopy. Panels show that compared to the average unchallenged C. albicans (top row) Accuflora-supernatant-challenged and Culturelle-supernatant-challenged C. albicans formed thinner and patchy biofilms, respectively but the Align-supernatant-challenged and Sustenex-supernatant-challenged C. albicans biofilms were dense. On the other hand, all probiotic bacteria-challenged C. albicans showed visible and mostly dense or non-uniform biofilms.
• (B) Two-way analysis of variance of mean optical density estimated from the XTT reduction assay based on source (supernatant versus bacteria) and brand of probiotic used. The bubbles are proportional to the mean optical density shown alongside.
• (C) Post-hoc pairwise comparisons of mean optical density in the XTT reduction assay using Scheffe's correction for multiple comparisons. Differences are shown as horizontal color-coded bars (blue for supernatants and pink for bacteria) and statistically significant results are identified by a color-coded star on the right.
