The gut microbiome plays a significant role in host physiology, both in health and disease. Assessment of changes in microbial metabolites beyond short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) following probiotic supplementation may identify additional metabolic pathways that are activated or suppressed in response to probiotics. This study assessed changes in microbial metabolites in healthy and dysbiosed microbiomes following supplementation with Symprove™, a multistrain probiotic, using the Colon-on-a-plate® miniaturized short-term batch fermentation system with a fractional factorial design. The fecal microbiome from 10 healthy human donors was evaluated under healthy and dysbiosed (enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli infection and/or low-, medium-, or high-dose antibiotics) conditions. Samples were supplemented with Symprove™ or water (control) and evaluated for microbial metabolites at 24 h and 48 h using untargeted metabolic fingerprinting, capillary gas chromatography, and targeted metabolic profiling. Favorable impacts were observed with Symprove™ supplementation across the different antibiotic doses. SCFA levels (acetate, propionate, butyrate) were significantly increased and levels of branched SCFAs were significantly decreased with Symprove™ supplementation versus control in both the healthy and dysbiosed populations. Significant increases and decreases in several other microbial metabolites were also observed with Symprove™, many of which could be considered to have beneficial effects on intestinal inflammation, intestinal barrier health, and the gut-brain axis. Symprove™ supplementation significantly affected microbial metabolism, with many of the observed changes being considered positive for human health. Importantly, these benefits were shown not only in healthy fecal microbiomes, but also in fecal microbiomes with in vitro antibiotic-induced dysbiosis, showing therapeutic potential.
