IN VITRO EVALUATION OF THE UPPER GASTROINTESTINAL PASSAGE OF A NOVEL BUTYRATE PRODUCING ISOLATE TO COUNTERBALANCE DYSBIOSIS IN INFLAMMATORY BOWEL DISEASE

摘要

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), with Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis as the two main forms, is characterized by chronic inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract. The etiology of IBD is still unclear but there is a well-established link between the intestinal microbiota and gut inflammation. Therefore, manipulation of the unbalanced microbial community in IBD is a very attractive therapeutic strategy. Butyrate has well described beneficial effects in IBD, but the delivery into the gut is still problematic. Administration of butyrate producing bacteria that are able to colonize the gut is therefore an elegant solution for the delivery problem. Recently, a novel butyrate producing isolate Butyricicoccus pullicaecorum (member of Clostridial cluster IV), was isolated and showed the production of exceptional high concentrations of butyrate (up to 18 mM) while consuming acetate (Eeckhaut et al, 2008). The aim of this study was to evaluate this novel probiotic strain for its survival during passage of the upper gastrointestinal tract by batch incubations. These properties are essential to make the Butyricicoccus pullicaecorum a suitable probiotic strain.