MASSIMO MARZORATI¹*, IRIS PINHEIRO², PIETER VAN DEN ABBEELE¹, TOM VAN DE WIELE¹, SAM POSSEMIERS^1,2
*Corresponding author
1. Ghent University, Laboratory of Microbial Ecology and Technology (LabMET), Coupure Links 653, Ghent, B-9000, Belgium
2. ProDigest BVBA, Technologiepark 4, Ghent, B-9052, Belgium

Abstract

The specific bacteria-host interaction occurring at the gut wall level implies the capacity of the bacteria to adhere to the mucosal layer and the subsequent modulation of the gut-wall functioning. The modulation of this process due to prebiotic and probiotic administration may be one of the determining factors leading to health effects. Despite the importance of such interactions, investigating them remains highly difficult due to limited accessibility of the site of action. Here, we propose a new in vitro technology platform as an innovative solution to study the mechanism of action of specific products on host-microbiota interactions in the gastrointestinal tract: a combination of the Mucosal-Simulator of the Human Intestinal Microbial Ecosystem (M-SHIME^®) with co-cultures of enterocytes and macrophages or with the recently-developed Host-Microbiota Interaction (HMITM) module.

INTRODUCTION

The human gastrointestinal tract (GIT) harbours a large number of microorganisms – up to 1011-1012 cells per gram of fecal matter in the distal colon – belonging to seven bacterial phyla (1, 2). This extremely complex community is considered to have multiple roles and has a key function in influencing the host physiology (3, 4). This interaction mainly occurs at the gut wall level and specific bacteria-host interactions and modifications in this process due to a given treatment are now considered as one of the determining factors leading to health effects of prebiotic and probiotic administration. Two aspects of this interaction are of key importance to highlight the potential mechanism of action of a given product: the capacity of the bacteria to adhere to the mucosal layer and the subsequent modulation of the gut-wall functioning.
As these specific aspects of the host-microbiota interaction are very difficult to be studied in vivo due to problems with accessibility and complexity, a newly developed in vitro platform can provide an innovative and alternative solution, as described in the next paragraphs.

HOST-MIC ... ...