In vitro characterization of gastrointestinal behavior of Butyricicoccus pullicaecorum, a novel butyrate producing isolate with probiotic potential to counterbalance dysbiosis in inflammatory bowel disease.

Inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) are characterized by chronic inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract. The microbial community of IBD patients has a lower abundance of butyrate producing species as compared to healthy individuals. Butyrate has well described beneficial effects on the gut function, but the delivery into the gut is still problematic. Administration of butyrate producing bacteria that are able to colonize the gut is therefore a promising treatment strategy. In this study a novel butyrate producing isolate, Butyricicoccus pullicaecorum, was evaluated in vitro for its probiotic potential. The survival during passage of the stomach and small intestine was evaluated by batch incubations. The colonization efficiency and metabolic activity of B. pullicaecorum under colon conditions was evaluated with an in vitro dynamic human gut model (M-SHIME). The batch experiments showed that B. pullicaecorum is able to survive the passage of the stomach and small intestine. The first results of the M-SHIME experiment showed an increase in Butyricicoccus species after treatment. We can conclude that B. pullicaecorum is still a promising candidate as a new probiotic strain in IBD. Further analysis of the M-SHIME experiments will learn us more about its colonization efficiency & metabolic activity.