Animals have been used in the evaluation of probiotic potentials of lactic acid bacteria for the development of functional food as only in-vitro tests may not be enough to ascertain the probiotic ability of an organism and its safety in a living host. The action of a probiotic Pediococcus acidilactici strain isolated from Wara, a Nigerian milk product, in the treatment of Diarrhea in wistar rats infected orally with Diarrhoeagenic Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli as well as the survival and microflora modulation of the probiotic strain in the gastrointestinal tract were evaluated. Five groups of seven rats each were infected and treated as the case may be with the pathogen and probiotic respectively. Each group received specific treatments for 30 days, during which the animals were closely monitored and the faecal samples were analyzed for the trend of E. coli and LAB counts. Also, specific organs of the Gastrointestinal tract (GIT) were examined for any histomorphological disparity after 30 days of daily treatment. Clinical signs were observed in the pathogen challenged animals while the probiotic treated groups displayed less pronounced Diarrheal symptoms and a negligible E. coli count. The strain adhered to the mucosal wall and did not initiate any adverse effect on the organs of the GIT after treatment. It was concluded that Pediococcus acidilactici isolated from Wara, a Nigerian milk product, was able to improve gut health through pathogen exclusion and had no adverse effect on the general health of the host.

Introduction There is currently a lack of adequate information on the mating, reproduction and the reproductive anatomy of the frugivorous bat Eidolon helvum. We, therefore, investigated their uterus during the non-pregnant and pregnant states for adequate information and comparison between the two states to ascertain what histological adaptations occur during pregnancy in relation to collagen and elastic fibers. Materials and Methods A total of 47 female bats (E. helvum) were used, out of which 24 were pregnant and 23 were not. They were harvested on the Obafemi Awolowo University Campus. The animals were carefully screened, assumed to be presumably healthy and then sacrificed by cervical dislocation. The left and right uterine limbs with the uterine body and part of the placenta were fixed in 10% formal saline, processed for paraffin embedding and sectioned at 5 μm with a rotary microtome. The sections were stained using Verhoeff-van Gieson stain to demonstrate collagen and elastic fibers. Results The results showed that both uterine limbs were histologically active during pregnancy. The prevalent fiber was the elastic type during the non-pregnant state, and collagen type during pregnancy. Conclusion We conclude that elastic fibers tend to obey Hooke's law during pregnancy in the uterus of the frugivorous bat E. helvum, which signifies a form of histomorphological response or adaptation to pregnancy in the uterus of this bat species.