Effects of Probiotics Administration on Human Metabolic Phenotype

• Main Authors: Veronica Ghini, Leonardo Tenori, Marco Pane, Angela Amoruso, Giada Marroncini, Diletta Francesca Squarzanti, Barbara Azzimonti, Roberta Rolla, Paola Savoia, Mirko Tarocchi, Andrea Galli, Claudio Luchinat
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2020-10-01
• Series: Metabolites
• Subjects: probiotics; metabolomics; nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy; gut microflora
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/2218-1989/10/10/396

The establishment of the beneficial interactions between the host and its microbiota is essential for the correct functioning of the organism, since microflora alterations can lead to many diseases. Probiotics improve balanced microbial communities, exerting substantial health-promoting effects. Here we monitored the molecular outcomes, obtained by gut microflora modulation through probiotic treatment, on human urine and serum metabolic profiles, with a metabolomic approach. Twenty-two subjects were enrolled in the study and administered with two different probiotic types, both singularly and in combination, for 8 weeks. Urine and serum samples were collected before and during the supplementation and were analyzed by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy and statistical analyses. After eight weeks of treatment, probiotics deeply influence the urinary metabolic profiles of the volunteers, without significantly altering their single phenotypes. Anyway, bacteria supplementation tends to reduce the differences in metabolic phenotypes among individuals. Overall, the effects are recipient-dependent, and in some individuals, robust effects are already well visible after four weeks. Modifications in metabolite levels, attributable to each type of probiotic administration, were also monitored. Metabolomic analysis of biofluids turns out to be a powerful technique to monitor the dynamic interactions between the microflora and the host, and the individual response to probiotic assumption.