Bacterial communities and metabolic activity of faecal cultures from equol producer and non-producer menopausal women under treatment with soy isoflavones

Abstract

BackgroundIsoflavones are polyphenols with estrogenic activity found mainly in soy and soy-derived products that need to be metabolised in the intestine by the gut bacteria to be fully active. There is little knowledge about isoflavone bioconversion and equol production in the human intestine. In this work, we developed an in vitro anaerobic culture model based on faecal slurries to assess the impact of isoflavone supplementation on the overall intestinal bacterial composition changes and associated metabolic transformations.ResultsIn the faecal anaerobic batch cultures of this study bioconversion of isoflavones into equol was possible, suggesting the presence of viable equol-producing bacterial taxa within the faeces of menopausal women with an equol producer phenotype. The application of high-throughput DNA sequencing of 16S rRNA gene amplicons revealed the composition of the faecal cultures to be modified by the addition of isoflavones, with enrichment of some bacterial gut members associated with the metabolism of phenolics and/or equol production, such as Collinsella, Faecalibacterium and members of the Clostridium clusters IV and XIVa. In addition, the concentration of short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) detected in the isoflavone-containing faecal cultures was higher in those inoculated with faecal slurries from equol-producing women.ConclusionsThis study constitutes the first step in the development of a faecal culturing system with isoflavones that would further allow the selection and isolation of intestinal bacterial types able to metabolize these compounds and produce equol in vitro. Although limited by the low number of faecal cultures analysed and the inter-individual bacterial diversity, the in vitro results obtained in this work tend to indicate that soy isoflavones might provide an alternative energy source for the increase of equol-producing taxa and enhancement of SCFAs production. SCFAs and equol are both considered pivotal bacterial metabolites in the triggering of intestinal health-related beneficial effects.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12866-017-1001-y) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Impact of lignans in oilseed mix on gut microbiome composition and enterolignan production in younger healthy and premenopausal women: an in vitro pilot study

“…On the other hand, it is worth noting the differential trend of Collinsella, whose relative abundance increased in PD-related microbial communities while it decreased in YD-related ones in the presence of oilseed mix, which suggests a possible role of this taxon in EL/ED conversion. Interestingly, Collinsella has recently been described as a bacterial genus involved in the biotransformation of dietary phytoestrogens in equol, possibly contributing to the desirable health benefits of isoflavones in postmenopausal women [56,57]. Finally, the PD faecal-derived microbial ecosystem appeared to be enriched in the Clostridiaceae family, whose members are already known to be variously involved in lignan metabolism [58,59].…”

Impact of lignans in oilseed mix on gut microbiome composition and enterolignan production in younger healthy and premenopausal women: an in vitro study

“…Interestingly, Collinsella has recently been described as a bacterial genus involved in the biotransformation of dietary phytoestrogens in equol, possibly contributing to the desirable health benefits of isoflavones in postmenopausal women [41,42]. Finally, the PD gut-derived microbial ecosystem appeared to be enriched in the Clostridiaceae family, whose members are already known to be variously involved in lignan metabolism [43,44] .…”

Impact of lignans in oilseed mix on gut microbiome composition and enterolignan production in younger healthy and premenopausal women: an in vitro pilot study

“…premenopausal (PD) female donors [49]. [56,57]. Finally, the PD faecalderived microbial ecosystem appeared to be enriched in the Clostridiaceae family, whose members are already known to be variously involved in lignan metabolism [58,59] .…”