Effects of apples and specific apple components on the cecal environment of conventional rats: role of apple pectin

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Our study was part of the large European project ISAFRUIT aiming to reveal the biological explanations for the epidemiologically well-established health effects of fruits. The objective was to identify effects of apple and apple prod...

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Main Authors: Markowski Jaroslaw, Krath Britta N, Poulsen Morten, Bergström Anders, Hansen Max, Licht Tine R, Dragsted Lars O, Wilcks Andrea
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: BMC 2010-01-01
Series:BMC Microbiology
Online Access:http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2180/10/13
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author Markowski Jaroslaw
Krath Britta N
Poulsen Morten
Bergström Anders
Hansen Max
Licht Tine R
Dragsted Lars O
Wilcks Andrea
author_facet Markowski Jaroslaw
Krath Britta N
Poulsen Morten
Bergström Anders
Hansen Max
Licht Tine R
Dragsted Lars O
Wilcks Andrea
author_sort Markowski Jaroslaw
collection DOAJ
description <p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Our study was part of the large European project ISAFRUIT aiming to reveal the biological explanations for the epidemiologically well-established health effects of fruits. The objective was to identify effects of apple and apple product consumption on the composition of the cecal microbial community in rats, as well as on a number of cecal parameters, which may be influenced by a changed microbiota.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Principal Component Analysis (PCA) of cecal microbiota profiles obtained by PCR-DGGE targeting bacterial 16S rRNA genes showed an effect of whole apples in a long-term feeding study (14 weeks), while no effects of apple juice, purée or pomace on microbial composition in cecum were observed. Administration of either 0.33 or 3.3% apple pectin in the diet resulted in considerable changes in the DGGE profiles.</p> <p>A 2-fold increase in the activity of beta-glucuronidase was observed in animals fed with pectin (7% in the diet) for four weeks, as compared to control animals (P < 0.01). Additionally, the level of butyrate measured in these pectin-fed animal was more than double of the corresponding level in control animals (P < 0.01). Sequencing revealed that DGGE bands, which were suppressed in pectin-fed rats, represented Gram-negative anaerobic rods belonging to the phylum <it>Bacteroidetes</it>, whereas bands that became more prominent represented mainly Gram-positive anaerobic rods belonging to the phylum <it>Firmicutes</it>, and specific species belonging to the <it>Clostridium </it>Cluster XIVa.</p> <p>Quantitative real-time PCR confirmed a lower amount of given <it>Bacteroidetes </it>species in the pectin-fed rats as well as in the apple-fed rats in the four-week study (P < 0.05). Additionally, a more than four-fold increase in the amount of <it>Clostridium coccoides </it>(belonging to Cluster XIVa), as well as of genes encoding butyryl-coenzyme A CoA transferase, which is involved in butyrate production, was detected by quantitative PCR in fecal samples from the pectin-fed animals.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Our findings show that consumption of apple pectin (7% in the diet) increases the population of butyrate- and β-glucuronidase producing <it>Clostridiales</it>, and decreases the population of specific species within the <it>Bacteroidetes </it>group in the rat gut. Similar changes were not caused by consumption of whole apples, apple juice, purée or pomace.</p>
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spelling doaj.art-974ac30e56ab475f8fd6788bf63549162022-12-22T03:29:23ZengBMCBMC Microbiology1471-21802010-01-011011310.1186/1471-2180-10-13Effects of apples and specific apple components on the cecal environment of conventional rats: role of apple pectinMarkowski JaroslawKrath Britta NPoulsen MortenBergström AndersHansen MaxLicht Tine RDragsted Lars OWilcks Andrea<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Our study was part of the large European project ISAFRUIT aiming to reveal the biological explanations for the epidemiologically well-established health effects of fruits. The objective was to identify effects of apple and apple product consumption on the composition of the cecal microbial community in rats, as well as on a number of cecal parameters, which may be influenced by a changed microbiota.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Principal Component Analysis (PCA) of cecal microbiota profiles obtained by PCR-DGGE targeting bacterial 16S rRNA genes showed an effect of whole apples in a long-term feeding study (14 weeks), while no effects of apple juice, purée or pomace on microbial composition in cecum were observed. Administration of either 0.33 or 3.3% apple pectin in the diet resulted in considerable changes in the DGGE profiles.</p> <p>A 2-fold increase in the activity of beta-glucuronidase was observed in animals fed with pectin (7% in the diet) for four weeks, as compared to control animals (P < 0.01). Additionally, the level of butyrate measured in these pectin-fed animal was more than double of the corresponding level in control animals (P < 0.01). Sequencing revealed that DGGE bands, which were suppressed in pectin-fed rats, represented Gram-negative anaerobic rods belonging to the phylum <it>Bacteroidetes</it>, whereas bands that became more prominent represented mainly Gram-positive anaerobic rods belonging to the phylum <it>Firmicutes</it>, and specific species belonging to the <it>Clostridium </it>Cluster XIVa.</p> <p>Quantitative real-time PCR confirmed a lower amount of given <it>Bacteroidetes </it>species in the pectin-fed rats as well as in the apple-fed rats in the four-week study (P < 0.05). Additionally, a more than four-fold increase in the amount of <it>Clostridium coccoides </it>(belonging to Cluster XIVa), as well as of genes encoding butyryl-coenzyme A CoA transferase, which is involved in butyrate production, was detected by quantitative PCR in fecal samples from the pectin-fed animals.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Our findings show that consumption of apple pectin (7% in the diet) increases the population of butyrate- and β-glucuronidase producing <it>Clostridiales</it>, and decreases the population of specific species within the <it>Bacteroidetes </it>group in the rat gut. Similar changes were not caused by consumption of whole apples, apple juice, purée or pomace.</p>http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2180/10/13
spellingShingle Markowski Jaroslaw
Krath Britta N
Poulsen Morten
Bergström Anders
Hansen Max
Licht Tine R
Dragsted Lars O
Wilcks Andrea
Effects of apples and specific apple components on the cecal environment of conventional rats: role of apple pectin
BMC Microbiology
title Effects of apples and specific apple components on the cecal environment of conventional rats: role of apple pectin
title_full Effects of apples and specific apple components on the cecal environment of conventional rats: role of apple pectin
title_fullStr Effects of apples and specific apple components on the cecal environment of conventional rats: role of apple pectin
title_full_unstemmed Effects of apples and specific apple components on the cecal environment of conventional rats: role of apple pectin
title_short Effects of apples and specific apple components on the cecal environment of conventional rats: role of apple pectin
title_sort effects of apples and specific apple components on the cecal environment of conventional rats role of apple pectin
url http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2180/10/13
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