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Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
- Microbial Fingerprinting Detects Unique Bacterial Communities in the Faecal Microbiota of Rats with Experimentally-Induced Colitis
- Ashis K. Samanta , Valeria A. Torok , Nigel J. Percy , Suzanne M. Abimosleh , Gordon S. Howarth
- J. Microbiol. 2012;50(2):218-225. Published online April 27, 2012
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12275-012-1362-8
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Abstract
- An abnormal composition of the gut microbiota is believed
to be associated with the pathogenesis of inflammatory
bowel disease (IBD). We utilized terminal restriction fragment
length polymorphism (T-RFLP) analysis to quantify
faecal bacterial communities from rats with experimental
colitis. Male Sprague Dawley rats (n=10/group) ingested
2% dextran sulfate sodium (DSS) or water for up to 7 days.
Rats were killed and colonic tissues collected for histological
analysis. Damage severity score in the distal colon was significantly
greater (P<0.001) following DSS consumption
compared to controls. T-RFLP faecal bacterial profiles generated
with either MspI or CfoI revealed a significant difference
(P<0.001) in community composition between healthy
and colitic rats, with bacterial composition in healthy rats
more variable than in rats with colitis. Operational taxonomic
units (OTU: taxonomically related groups of bacteria)
associated with either the healthy or colitic state were
identified. OTU (116, 226, 360, and 948; CfoI) and (118 and
188; MspI) were strongly associated with untreated healthy
rats, while OTU (94, 98, 174, and 384; CfoI) and (94 and
914; MspI) were predominantly associated with DSS-treated
colitic rats. Phylogenetic OTU assignment suggested that
Bacteroidales and Lactobacillus sp. were predominantly associated
with the colitic and healthy rats, respectively. These
results
show that faecal bacterial profiling is a rapid, sensitive and non-invasive tool for detecting and identifying changes in gut microbiota associated with colitis. Restoring microbial homeostasis by targeting colitis-associated OTU through specific microbiological interventions could form the basis of novel therapeutic strategies for IBD.
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