(FMT) increased microbial diversity and butyrate levels in the gut microbiota of ulcerative colitis patients.
FMT was associated with a significant increase in total bacteria, Bacteroidota, and Lactobacillus in the gut microbiota.
The relative abundance of beneficial species such as Faecalibacterium prausnitzii and Bifidobacterium longum increased following FMT.
New species including Blautia obeum and Roseburia faecis were enriched in the microbiota after FMT.
Microbial metabolites modified by FMT were found to prevent intestinal barrier damage and reduce inflammation markers in vitro.
A single dose of FMT enhanced the composition and metabolic activity of the microbiota in a simulated environment.
Simplified
BACKGROUND: (FMT) seems to be a promising approach in ulcerative colitis (UC) management with the aim of repopulating a patient's dysbiotic microbiota with beneficial bacteria and restore its metabolic activity to its healthy characteristics. Metabolites present after FMT may improve the function and integrity of the intestinal barrier, reduce inflammation, and thus induce remission in an UC patient. In this study we evaluated whether the (SHIME®) model may be a suitable non-invasive alternative for studying and modifying the dysbiotic microbiota in UC by FMT application.
METHODS: SHIME® model was used to investigate microbial and metabolic changes in the gut microbiota of UC patient induced by FMT application. FMT-modified metabolites from SHIME® were applied to an in vitro model of the intestinal barrier (differentiated Caco-2 and HT-29-MTX-E12 cell lines) compromised by pro-inflammatory cytokines to study the effect of FMT on the intestinal barrier.
RESULTS: Qualitative and quantitative microbial analyses showed that FMT increased the diversity and variability of the microbiota in UC patient associated with a significant increase in total bacteria, Bacteroidota and Lactobacillus, as well as an increase in butyrate levels. In addition, an increase in the relative abundance of some important species such as Faecalibacterium prausnitzii and Bifidobacterium longum was observed, and there was also an enrichment of the microbiota with new species such as Blautia obeum, Roseburia faecis, Bifidobacterium adolescentis, Fusicatenibacter saccharivorans and Eubacterium rectale. Furthermore, microbial metabolites modulated by FMT from the SHIME® model prevented intestinal barrier damage and inhibited interleukin 8 (IL-8) and monocyte chemoattractant protein 1 (MCP-1) secretion when cell barriers were pretreated with FMT medium for 24 h. In summary, this study confirmed that a single dose of FMT beneficially modulated the composition and metabolic activity of the UC microbiota in the SHIME® model.
CONCLUSIONS: FMT favorably modulates the gut microbiota of UC patient cultured in the SHIME® model. FMT-modulated SHIME-derived microbial metabolites improve intact and inflamed intestinal barrier properties in vitro. Repeated applications are necessary to maintain the beneficial effect of FMT in SHIME® model.
Key numbers
27
Increase in Total Bacteria
Total bacterial taxa increased from 15 to 27 after treatment.
3.5% → 16.1%
Butyrate Level Increase
Butyrate levels rose significantly after in the UC microbiota.
IL-8 < 0.001
Decrease in IL-8 Secretion
IL-8 secretion was significantly inhibited following treatment.
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Declarations. Ethics approval and consent to participate: All subjects gave their informed consent for inclusion before they participated in the study. The study was conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki 1964 and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. The study protocol was approved by the Ethics Committee of Louis Pasteur University Hospital in Košice (2018/EK/1001). Clinical trial number: not applicable. Consent for publication: Not applicable. Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests.
