Plain language summary
Evidence regarding the efficacy of probiotics in colonising the gut mucosa are sparse. The authors investigated whether probiotics colonise the gut mucosa in mice and humans, using both gut mucosa and stool samples. They found that, in both mice and humans, results from stool samples only partially correlate with colonisation of the gut mucosa as determined through gut mucosa samples. Whilst results were fairly uniform in mice, in humans a person-specific resistance to colonisation of the gut mucosa by probiotics was observed. Inter-person variation could be predicted by the composition of the pre-probiotic microbiome and host immune features.
Abstract
Empiric probiotics are commonly consumed by healthy individuals as means of life quality improvement and disease prevention. However, evidence of probiotic gut mucosal colonization efficacy remains sparse and controversial. We metagenomically characterized the murine and human mucosal-associated gastrointestinal microbiome and found it to only partially correlate with stool microbiome. A sequential invasive multi-omics measurement at baseline and during consumption of an 11-strain probiotic combination or placebo demonstrated that probiotics remain viable upon gastrointestinal passage. In colonized, but not germ-free mice, probiotics encountered a marked mucosal colonization resistance. In contrast, humans featured person-, region- and strain-specific mucosal colonization patterns, hallmarked by predictive baseline host and microbiome features, but indistinguishable by probiotics presence in stool. Consequently, probiotics induced a transient, individualized impact on mucosal community structure and gut transcriptome. Collectively, empiric probiotics supplementation may be limited in universally and persistently impacting the gut mucosa, meriting development of new personalized probiotic approaches.
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