Blautia is a genus of anaerobic bacteria with probiotic characteristics that occur widely in the feces and intestines of mammals. Based on phenotypic and phylogenetic analyses, some species in the genera Clostridium and Ruminococcus have been reclassified as Blautia, so to date, there are 20 new species with valid published names in this genus. An extensive body of research has recently focused on the probiotic effects of this genus, such as biological transformation and its ability to regulate host health and alleviate metabolic syndrome. This article reviews the origin and biological characteristics of Blautia and the factors that affect its abundance and discusses its role in host health, thus laying a theoretical foundation for the development of new functional microorganisms with probiotic properties.
Fructooligosaccharides (FOS) are a well-known class of prebiotic and are considered to selectively stimulate the growth of bifidobacteria in the gut. Previous studies focused on the growth stimulation of Bifidobacterium, but they did not further investigate the bifidobacterial composition and the specific species that were stimulated. In this study, mice were fed with FOS in different doses for four weeks and the composition of fecal microbiota, in particular Bifidobacterium, was analyzed by sequencing the V3–V4 region and the groEL gene on the MiSeq platform, respectively. In the high-dose group, the relative abundance of Actinobacteria was significantly increased, which was mainly contributed by Bifidobacterium. At the genus level, the relative abundances of Blautia and Coprococcus were also significantly increased. Through the groEL sequencing, 14 species of Bifidobacterium were identified, among which B. pseudolongum was most abundant. After FOS treatment, B. pseudolongum became almost the sole bifidobacterial species (>95%). B. pseudolongum strains were isolated and demonstrated their ability to metabolize FOS by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Therefore, we inferred that FOS significantly stimulated the growth of B. pseudolongum in mice. Further investigations are needed to reveal the mechanism of selectiveness between FOS and B. pseudolongum, which would aid our understanding of the basic principles between dietary carbohydrates and host health.
This
research assessed the anti-inflammatory and hepatoprotective
properties of inosine and the associated mechanism. Inosine pretreatment
significantly reduced the secretion of several inflammatory factors
and serum alanine transaminase (ALT) and aspartate amino transferase
(AST) levels in a dose-dependent manner compared with the lipopolysaccharide
(LPS) group. In LPS-treated mice, inosine pretreatment significantly
reduced the ALT and malondialdehyde (MDA) concentration and significantly
elevated the antioxidant enzyme activity. Furthermore, inosine pretreatment
significantly altered the relative abundance of the genera, Bifidobacterium, Lachnospiraceae UCG-006, and Muribaculum. Correlation
analysis showed that Bifidobacterium and Lachnospiraceae UCG-006 were
positively related to the cecal short-chain fatty acids but negatively
related to the serum IL-6 and hepatic AST and ALT levels. Notably,
inosine pretreatment significantly modulated the hepatic TLR4, MYD88,
NF-κB, iNOS, COX2, AMPK, Nfr2, and IκB-α expression.
These results suggested that inosine pretreatment alters the intestinal
microbiota structure and improves LPS-induced acute liver damage and
inflammation through modulating the TLR4/NF-κB signaling pathway.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.