1H NMR-based metabonomic assessment of probiotic effects in a colitis mouse model

Metabolic profiling of the fecal extracts of male mice was carried out to assess the effects of probiotics on colonic inflammation using H-1 NMR spectroscopy coupled with multivariate data analysis. The control group (n = 5) was administered phosphate buffered saline for 14 days. Acute colitis was induced with dextran sulfate sodium (DSS) for 7 days following administration of phosphate buffered saline for 7 days (DSS-treated group, n = 5). LAB + DSS-treated group (n = 5) was administered lactic acid bacteria (LAB) daily for 7 days followed by treatment with DSS for 7 days to investigate protective effect of LAB against DSS-inducible colitis. Histological damage, myeloperoxidase activity, and malondialdehyde content of colon tissue were reduced, whereas colon length increased in LAB + DSS-treated mice compared to those in DSS-treated mice. DSS treatment was associated with fecal excretion of amino acids, short chain fatty acids, and nucleotides, revealing significant decreases of threonine, alanine, glutamate, glutamine, aspartate, lysine, glycine, butyrate, uracil, and hypoxanthine together with increases of monosaccharides, glucose, and trimethylamine in the feces of mice with DSS-induced colitis. Increased levels of acetate, butyrate, and glutamine and decreased levels of trimethylamine were found in the feces of LAB + DSS-treated mice compared to DSS-treated mice alone. The increased short chain fatty acids levels in the feces of mice fed with LAB indicate that the probiotics have protective effects against DSS-induced colitis via modulation of the gut microbiota. This work highlights the possibility for alternative approach of metabonomics in feces for assessing the probiotic effect in an animal model of inflammatory bowel disease.