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Recapitulating Suckling-to-Weaning Transition In Vitro using Fetal Intestinal Organoids
Published on: November 15, 2019
Changes in bowel microbiota induced by feeding weanlings resistant starch stimulate transcriptomic and physiological
Wayne Young1, Nicole C Roy, Julian Lee
1Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand.
Applied and Environmental Microbiology
|July 17, 2012
Summary
Dietary resistant starch (RS) significantly alters rat gut microbiota composition, leading to changes in short-chain fatty acids, gene expression, and host physiology. These findings highlight the microbiota
Area of Science:
- Microbiology
- Nutritional Science
- Physiology
Background:
- Gut microbial communities (microbiota) are linked to various medical conditions.
- Predictable engineering of microbiota via diet is crucial for health.
- Understanding diet-microbiota interactions is key to managing gut health.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the effects of resistant starch (RS) on rat gut microbiota composition.
- To determine how RS-induced microbiota alterations impact host physiology and metabolism.
- To elucidate the role of the microbiota in mediating diet-induced host responses.
Main Methods:
- Synecological study using weanling Sprague-Dawley rats.
- Dietary intervention with varying concentrations of resistant starch (RS) for 28 days.
- Analysis of colonic digesta using 16S rRNA gene pyrosequencing and TTGE, alongside measurements of SCFAs, gene expression, serum metabolites, and goblet cell counts.
Main Results:
- Resistant starch (RS) feeding altered microbiota composition, promoting blooms of Bacteroidetes and Actinobacteria.
- RS-induced microbiota changes were associated with altered colonic SCFA concentrations and gene expression (Gsta2, Ela1).
- Host physiological responses, including serum metabolite profiles and colonic goblet cell numbers, were modified by RS, with microbiota mediating these effects.
Conclusions:
- Dietary resistant starch (RS) can predictably modulate gut microbiota composition in young rats.
- Microbiota alterations induced by RS influence host gene expression, metabolism, and physiology.
- These findings underscore the microbiota's central role in mediating the physiological effects of dietary components.
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