Basic Study
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2018. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Feb 28, 2018; 24(8): 894-904
Published online Feb 28, 2018. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v24.i8.894
Gas chromatography/mass spectrometry based metabolomic study in a murine model of irritable bowel syndrome
Lei-Min Yu, Ke-Jia Zhao, Shuang-Shuang Wang, Xi Wang, Bin Lu
Lei-Min Yu, Ke-Jia Zhao, Shuang-Shuang Wang, Bin Lu, Department of Gastroenterology, First Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang Chinese Medical University, Hangzhou 310006, Zhejiang Province, China
Lei-Min Yu, Ke-Jia Zhao, Shuang-Shuang Wang, First Clinical Medical College of Zhejiang Chinese Medical University, Hangzhou 310053, Zhejiang Province, China
Xi Wang, Key Laboratory of Digestive Pathophysiology of Zhejiang Province, First Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang Chinese Medical University, Hangzhou 310053, Zhejiang Province, China
Author contributions: Yu LM, Zhao KJ, Wang SS, Wang X and Lu B designed the study; Yu LM and Zhao KJ collected and analyzed the data; Yu LM drafted and wrote the manuscript; Lu B revised the manuscript critically for intellectual content; all authors gave intellectual input to the study and approved the final version of the manuscript.
Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China, No. 81470814 and No. 81400594; and Zhejiang Provincial Natural Science Foundation of China, No. LQ14H160014.
Institutional review board statement: This study was approved by the Ethics Committee of the Zhejiang Chinese Medical University. All procedures in the animal studies were performed in accordance with the ethical standards of the institution or practice.
Institutional animal care and use committee statement: All procedures were approved by the Animal Care Committee of Zhejiang Chinese Medical University, and all methods were performed in accordance with the relevant guidelines and regulations.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Data sharing statement: No additional data are available.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Bin Lu, MD, PhD, Doctor, Professor, Department of Gastroenterology, First Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang Chinese Medicine University, No. 54, Youdian Road, Hangzhou 310006, Zhejiang Province, China. lvbin@medmail.com.cn
Telephone: +86-571-87032028 Fax: +86-571-87077785
Received: December 13, 2017
Peer-review started: December 13, 2017
First decision: December 27, 2017
Revised: January 12, 2018
Accepted: January 20, 2018
Article in press: January 20, 2018
Published online: February 28, 2018
Processing time: 75 Days and 22 Hours
Abstract
AIM

To study the role of microbial metabolites in the modulation of biochemical and physiological processes in irritable bowel syndrome (IBS).

METHODS

In the current study, using a metabolomic approach, we analyzed the key metabolites differentially excreted in the feces of control mice and mice with IBS, with or without Clostridium butyricum (C. butyricum) treatment. C57BL/6 mice were divided into control, IBS, and IBS + C. butyricum groups. In the IBS and IBS + C. butyricum groups, the mice were subjected to water avoidance stress (WAS) for 1 h/d for ten days. Gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC-MS) together with multivariate analysis was employed to compare the fecal samples between groups.

RESULTS

WAS exposure established an appropriate model of IBS in mice, with symptoms of visceral hyperalgesia and diarrhea. The differences in the metabolite profiles between the control group and IBS group significantly changed with the progression of IBS (days 0, 5, 10, and 17). A total of 14 differentially excreted metabolites were identified between the control and IBS groups, and phenylethylamine was a major metabolite induced by stress. In addition, phenylalanine metabolism was found to be the most relevant metabolic pathway. Between the IBS group and IBS + C. butyricum group, 10 differentially excreted metabolites were identified. Among these, pantothenate and coenzyme A (CoA) biosynthesis metabolites, as well as steroid hormone biosynthesis metabolites were identified as significantly relevant metabolic pathways.

CONCLUSION

The metabolic profile of IBS mice is significantly altered compared to control mice. Supplementation with C. butyricum to IBS mice may provide a considerable benefit by modulating host metabolism.

Keywords: Irritable bowel syndrome; Metabolite; Gas chromatography/mass spectrometry; Clostridium butyricum

Core tip: In this study, we analyzed the key metabolites differentially excreted in the feces of control mice and mice with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). A total of 14 differentially excreted metabolites were identified, and phenylalanine (a major metabolite induced by stress) was found to be the most relevant of these metabolites. Between the IBS group and IBS + C. butyricum group, 10 differentially excreted metabolites were identified, and pantothenate and coenzyme A (CoA) biosynthesis metabolites, as well as steroid hormone biosynthesis metabolites were found to be significantly relevant. Thus, supplementation with C. butyricum to IBS mice had beneficial effects through modulation of host metabolism.