Metabolic Activity of Intestinal Microbiota within Gut³Gel

Key Takeways:

Compared to BHI under anaerobic conditions, Gut³Gel displayed higher levels of acetate and butyrate, whose production was favored over propionate

Acetate levels in Gut³Gel increased on average 10-fold in the first 24 h and then either stabilized or slightly decreased over the following 48 h

Butyrate levels in Gut³Gel rose on average 20-fold during the first 24 h and continued increasing steadily throughout the 72-hour culturing time

An increase in acetate and butyrate in Gut³Gel is in agreement with the high abundance of acetate-producers, such as Bifidobacterium, Prevotella, and Ruminococcus, and butyrate-producers such as Megasphaera and Faecalibacterium.

Key Takeways:

The increase in viscoelastic moduli indicates the production and secretion of viscoelastic compounds, such as exopolysaccharides (EPS)

Both conservative (G’) and dissipative (G’’) moduli of Gut³Gel increase over the 72 h of culturing, except for Donors 2 and 3, which peak at 24 h

The absence or low abundance of EPS-producing bacteria, including Bifidobacteriaceae and Lactobacillaceae is in agreement with the absence of an increase in viscoelastic properties after 24 h of culturing in Donor 3 samples. In contrast, the sharp increase in viscoelastic properties in Donor 4 at 72 hours is consistent with a substantial increase in Lactobacillus abundance