Table 1 Animal protocols

Protocol 1: Effects of TCS exposure for 1 week on gut microbiota and gut inflammation in mice.

1-week TCS vs.

1-week control

Balb/c mice (aged, 4w) were maintained on a diet with 80ppm TCS (97%, Macklin) dissolved in polyethylene glycol 400 (EMD Millipore) as vehicle (0.5% in diet, v/w) or vehicle alone for 1 week. At the end, the mice were sacrificed, blood samples and colon tissue were collected for analysis of inflammation and fecal samples were collected for 16 S rRNA sequencing.

Protocol 2: Effects of TCS exposure for 4 weeks on gut microbiota and gut inflammation in mice.

4-week TCS vs.

4-week control

Balb/c mice (aged, 4w) were maintained on a diet with 80ppm TCS (97%, Macklin) dissolved in polyethylene glycol 400 (EMD Millipore) as vehicle (0.5% in diet, v/w) or vehicle alone for 4 weeks. At the end, the mice were sacrificed, blood samples and colon tissue were collected for analysis of inflammation and fecal samples were collected for 16 S rRNA sequencing.

Protocol 3: Effects of TCS exposure on gut microbiota and gut inflammation in UC-model mice

DSS + TCS

vs.

DSS + control

Balb/c mice (aged, 4w) were maintained on a diet with 80ppm TCS (97%, Macklin) dissolved in polyethylene glycol 400 (EMD Millipore) as vehicle (0.5% in diet, v/w) or vehicle alone for 3 weeks. At the beginning of the 4^th week, all the mice were treated with 2% DSS in drinking water for 1 week to induce UC, during which the TCS or vehicle treatment remained the same. At the end of the 4^th week, the mice were sacrificed, blood samples and colon tissue were collected for analysis of inflammation and fecal samples were collected for 16 S rRNA sequencing.