Enterotype-Specific Effect of Human Gut Microbiota on the Fermentation of Marine Algae Oligosaccharides: A Preliminary Proof-of-Concept In Vitro Study

Abstract

The human gut microbiota plays a critical role in the metabolism of dietary carbohydrates. Previous studies have illustrated that marine algae oligosaccharides could be utilized and readily fermented by human gut microbiota. However, the human gut microbiota is classified into three different enterotypes, and how this may affect the fermentation processes of marine algae oligosaccharides has not been studied. Here, using in vitro fermentation and 16 S high-throughput sequencing techniques, we demonstrate that the human gut microbiota has an enterotype-specific effect on the fermentation outcomes of marine algae oligosaccharides. Notably, microbiota with a Bacteroides enterotype was more proficient at fermenting carrageenan oligosaccharides (KOS) as compared to that with a Prevotella enterotype and that with an Escherichia enterotype. Interestingly, the prebiotic effects of marine algae oligosaccharides were also found to be enterotype dependent. Altogether, our study demonstrates an enterotype-specific effect of human gut microbiota on the fermentation of marine algae oligosaccharides. However, due to the availability of the fecal samples, only one sample was used to represent each enterotype. Therefore, our research is a proof-of-concept study, and we anticipate that more detailed studies with larger sample sizes could be conducted to further explore the enterotype-specific prebiotic effects of marine oligosaccharides.

Evaluation of Prebiotics through an In Vitro Gastrointestinal Digestion and Fecal Fermentation Experiment: Further Idea on the Implementation of Machine Learning Technique

“…The effective prebiotics (i.e., FOS, Gins, GOS, INU, and RAF) seemed to work well regardless of different enterotypes, at least in the present study. Fu et al [ 36 ], however, reported that personal gut microbiota difference affects the effects of prebiotics. Therefore, a comprehensive study on more subjects with diverse enterotypes should be designed to test this further.…”

Isolation of Alginate-Degrading Bacteria from the Human Gut Microbiota and Discovery of Bacteroides xylanisolvens AY11-1 as a Novel Anti-Colitis Probiotic Bacterium

“…The fresh fecal samples from 30 healthy volunteers were collected as previously described [ 3 , 8 ]. All individuals provided a signed consent before sample collection.…”

“…The human experiments for the fecal sample collection were approved and supported by the Ethical Committee of Ocean University of China, School of Medicine and Pharmacy (Permission No. OUC-2020-1008-01) as previously described [ 3 , 8 ]. The VI medium that contained alginate at a concentration of 8 g/L was utilized to isolate the alginate-degrading bacteria from the human gut microbiota using the method described elsewhere [ 3 , 8 , 9 ].…”

<em>In Vitro</em> Fermentation of Carrot Juice by the Human Gut Microbiota: Potential Use of It as A Novel Prebiotic Agent

“…The experiments regarding to the fecal sample collection from humans were approved and supported by the Ethical Committee of Ocean University of China, School of Medicine and Pharmacy (Permission No. OUC-2020-1008-01) as previously described [15]. Batch fermentations of carrot juice by the human gut microbiota were performed at 37 °C in an anaerobic chamber (AW 500SG, Electrotek Ltd., Shipley, UK).…”

“…For the analysis of the short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) in the fermentation media, a standard high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method was applied. The HPLC system (Agilent 1260, Santa Clara, CA, USA) was equipped with an UV detector (210 nm) and an Aminex HPX-87H ion-exclusion column (Bio-Rad, Hercules, CA, USA) were used as previously described [15,16].…”