Fig. 6. Transplanting of fecal microbiome intervened by GP improves intestinal inflammation. (A) The experimental protocol for FMT. (B) Changes of body weight (n=10). (C) Histopathological changes after HE staining. (D) Rarefaction curves of OUT quantity. (E) PCA analysis. (F) The gut microbiota composition among experimental groups at phylum/genus level.
The bacterial profiles of the donor mice were measured using 16S rRNA sequencing to investigate the effects of GP on the fecal microbiome of mice. The Simpson Diversity Index of the operational taxonomic unit level in the DSS + GP (FMT) group was significantly higher than that of the DSS (FMT) group, indicating that GP alters the richness and diversity of the microbial community. Significant separations were observed among the four groups during PCA (Fig. 6D), which is similar to the result of hierarchical clustering. Further PCA showed that the overall structure of the microbiota had significant differences in the four groups (Fig.6E). The comparison of gut microflora with high abundance at the phylum and genus levels in each group is shown in Fig. 6F. Compared with blank group, there was no significant change in the phylum and genus levels of blank (FMT) bacteria. Compared with blank and blank (FMT) groups, the abundance of p_ Firmicutes andp_Verrucomicrobia-g_Akkermansia in the DSS (FMT) group was significantly lower, while the abundance of p_Verrucomicrobia ,p_Bacteroidetes, p_Proteobacteria, and p_Firmicutes-g_Allobaculum were significantly higher. The abundances of the above bacteria in the DSS + GP (FMT) group and the DSS (FMT) group showed the opposite trend of change exceptp_Firmicutes- g _Oscillospira .