Fecal microbiota transplantation from Suncus murinus, an obesity-resistant animal, to C57BL/6NCrSIc mice, and the antibiotic effects in the approach

Mingshou Zhang; Hiraku Sasaki; Ting Yang; Juefei Chen; Rujia Li; Cheng Yi; Jun Li; Maozhang He; Shuang-Qin Yi

doi:10.3389/fmicb.2023.1138983

Fecal microbiota transplantation from Suncus murinus, an obesity-resistant animal, to C57BL/6NCrSIc mice, and the antibiotic effects in the approach

Front Microbiol. 2023 Apr 6:14:1138983. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2023.1138983. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Mingshou Zhang¹, Hiraku Sasaki², Ting Yang¹, Juefei Chen¹, Rujia Li¹, Cheng Yi³, Jun Li⁴, Maozhang He⁵, Shuang-Qin Yi¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Frontier Health Sciences, Graduate School of Human Health Sciences, Tokyo Metropolitan University, Tokyo, Japan.
² Department of Health Science, School of Health and Sports Science, Juntendo University, Bunkyō, Japan.
³ Suzhou Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Suzhou, China.
⁴ State Key Laboratory of Oncogenes and Related Genes, Shanghai Cancer Institute, Renji Hospital, School of Medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China.
⁵ Department of Microbiology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China.

Abstract

Introduction: Important studies on the relationship of the intestinal microbial flora with obesity have uncovered profound changes in the composition of the gut microbiota in obese individuals. Animal studies successfully altered body phenotypes by fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT).

Methods: In this study, we analyzed the gut microbiome of Suncus murinus (S. murinus), a naturally obesity-resistant animal, and the changes of the gut flora of C57BL/6NCrSIc mice that received gut bacteria transplantation from S. murinus by 16S rRNA gene analysis method. And analyzed and discussed the possible impact of the use of antibiotics before transplantation on the outcome of transplantation.

Results: Our results showed no significant changes in body weight in the FMT group compared to the control (AB) group, but large fluctuations due to antibiotics. There was no change in blood lipid levels between groups before and after FMT. The gut microbiota of S. murinus were enriched in Firmicutes and Proteobacteria, while Bacteroidetes were not detected, and fewer OTUs were detected in the intestine gut in comparison to other mouse groups. Statistically significant differences in alpha diversity were observed between the FMT group and other groups. Furthermore, a beta diversity analysis indicated an apparent structural separation between the FMT group and other groups.

Conclusion: It was suggested that the gut flora of S. murinus was not well established in the gut trace of mice through FMT, and the administration of antibiotics before transplantation was an important factor affecting the overall composition of the gut flora. Although FMT of S. murinus failed to completely colonize the intestinal tract of the mice, it still had a certain effect on the establishment of the intestinal flora of the mice. The unpredictable effects of pre-transplantation antibiotics on the results of transplantation cannot be ignored.

Keywords: 16S rRNA; Suncus murinus; antibiotics; fecal microbiota transplantation; gut microbiota; obesity-resistant.