After 1 h of incubation at 37 C under 5% CO2 atmosphere, wells
were softly washed three times with PBS solution to remove unbound
bacteria. Caco-2 cells and adhered bacteria were then detached
using 0.05% trypsin-EDTA solution and the bacterial counts
were carried out in the appropriate agar media as described above.
The adhesion capacity was expressed as the number of adhered
bacteria (CFU/mL) relative to the total number of bacteria added
initially (% Adhesion ¼ [Adhered bacteria/Total of added
bacteria] 100). CFU/mL was determined by cell counts in the
appropriate agar media were performed. Assays were performed in
triplicate and three independent experiments were carried out.