An In Vitro Model of the Human Colon: Studies of Intestinal Biofilms and Clostridium difficile Infection

Methods Mol Biol. 2016:1476:223-34. doi: 10.1007/978-1-4939-6361-4_17.

Abstract

The in vitro gut model is an invaluable research tool to study indigenous gut microbiota communities, the behavior of pathogenic organisms, and the therapeutic and adverse effect of antimicrobial administration on these communities. The model has been validated against the intestinal contents of sudden death victims to reflect the physicochemical and microbiological conditions of the proximal to distal colon, and has been extensively used to investigate the interplay between gut microbiota populations, antibiotic exposure, and Clostridium difficile infection. More recently the gut model has been adapted to additionally model intestinal biofilm. Here we describe the structure, assembly, and application of the biofilm gut model.

Keywords: Biofilm; Chemostat; Clostridium difficile; Microbiota; Modeling; Mucosa.

MeSH terms

  • Anaerobiosis
  • Anti-Bacterial Agents / pharmacology
  • Bacillus / drug effects
  • Bacillus / growth & development
  • Bifidobacterium / drug effects
  • Bifidobacterium / growth & development
  • Biofilms / drug effects*
  • Biofilms / growth & development
  • Bioreactors
  • Clostridioides difficile / drug effects*
  • Clostridioides difficile / growth & development
  • Clostridioides difficile / pathogenicity
  • Clostridium Infections / microbiology
  • Clostridium Infections / mortality
  • Clostridium Infections / pathology
  • Colon / drug effects
  • Colon / microbiology*
  • Culture Media / chemistry
  • Culture Media / pharmacology
  • Death, Sudden
  • Enterobacteriaceae / drug effects
  • Enterobacteriaceae / growth & development
  • Feces / microbiology
  • Fermentation
  • Gastrointestinal Microbiome / physiology*
  • Humans
  • Lactobacillales / drug effects
  • Lactobacillales / growth & development
  • Models, Biological*

Substances

  • Anti-Bacterial Agents
  • Culture Media