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Evaluating the effects of an orally administered novel probiotic in mice

Brynjólfsson, Jón (2019) MOBM02 20191
Degree Projects in Molecular Biology
Popular Abstract
A new probiotic for the cure of diabetes

Metabolic diseases such as obesity and type 2 diabetes are becoming increasingly common worldwide and are major causes of disability and death indicating an urgent need for interventions. Emerging evidence points to a central role of gut microbiota in metabolism, for example blood glucose metabolism and appetite regulation. Furthermore, intervention with probiotics (microorganisms that are beneficial for the host health) has been linked to improved glucose tolerance thus showing great potential as therapeutic for metabolic diseases. One such bacterium for which metabolic benefits (more specifically increase of glucose tolerance) have been shown in both mice and humans is the bacterium Prevotella... (More)
A new probiotic for the cure of diabetes

Metabolic diseases such as obesity and type 2 diabetes are becoming increasingly common worldwide and are major causes of disability and death indicating an urgent need for interventions. Emerging evidence points to a central role of gut microbiota in metabolism, for example blood glucose metabolism and appetite regulation. Furthermore, intervention with probiotics (microorganisms that are beneficial for the host health) has been linked to improved glucose tolerance thus showing great potential as therapeutic for metabolic diseases. One such bacterium for which metabolic benefits (more specifically increase of glucose tolerance) have been shown in both mice and humans is the bacterium Prevotella copri.

In this project the effects of this potential next generation probiotic were investigated by orally administering the P. copri bacteria to mice. We studied the probiotic effects, tested whether the bacteria are able to colonise the gut of the mice and conducted safety studies. In order to further improve the beneficial effects that the bacteria have on the host we also optimised the growth of P. copri in different growth media for comparison in later mouse studies.

In line with previous findings, we found host glucose tolerance to be improved when P. copri was orally administered to mice. The relative genomic DNA amounts of P. copri in faeces collected from the mice during the experiment suggests limited ability of the bacteria to colonise the gut of mice which could be due to the mouse gut being already colonised by other microbes competing for the same niche. Potential physiological host responses of the probiotic were tested such as abnormal body weight gain, relative organ weights, as well as histological and haematological parameters. None of the treatment groups displayed negative effects when looking at body weight or histological examination. In regard to relative liver weight, however, mice that received live P. copri had a lower liver mass which warrants further investigation and although not significant, a slight increase in white blood cell count. This slight immune response can be explained by the fact that, unlike in humans, P. copri is not part of the normal gut microbiota in mice. An in vitro growth curve experiment finally, indicates that P. copri bacteria grow faster and are more viable in Peptone Yeast Glucose (PYG) medium compared to Schaedler broth medium.

In conclusion, this potential next generation probiotic improves host glucose metabolism while no major detrimental effects to the host were identified. This study paves the way for further more long-term mouse safety studies (chronic toxicity studies) and ultimately clinical trials in humans to investigate P. copri as a therapeutic tool in the prevention and cure of metabolic diseases. (Less)
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author
Brynjólfsson, Jón
supervisor
organization
course
MOBM02 20191
year
type
H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
subject
language
English
id
8995164
date added to LUP
2019-09-17 09:49:33
date last changed
2019-09-17 09:49:33
@misc{8995164,
  author       = {{Brynjólfsson, Jón}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Evaluating the effects of an orally administered novel probiotic in mice}},
  year         = {{2019}},
}