Effects of soybean carbohydrates and Lactobacillus helveticus BGRA43 on metabolic processes in rat colon

Abstract

Aim of this work was to assess the metabolic and physiological changes that occurred in the hind gut of rats after feeding with soybean carbohydrates alone and in combination with Lactobacillus helveticus BGRA43. Wistar rats were gavaged with soybean flour for 28 days. The parameters assessed included fecal volatile organic compounds, and L-lactate, reducing sugars, proteins, ammonia and water levels in the colonic lumen. The presence of lactic acid (LAB), sulfate reducing (SRB) and methanogenic bacteria was assessed by semi-quantitative PCR. Malondialdehyde levels as well as lymphoid tissue size in ileal and colonic mucosa were also evaluated. On the basics of the results obtained, correlation network was created, setting the parameters tested in research in two metabolic groups: saccharolytic and proteolytic fermentation group. The principal finding of the study is a negative correlation between oral administration of BGRA43 and increase of parameters related to carbohydrate fermentation in the gut, and a positive correlation to factors related to proteolytic fermentation. On the contrary, soybean carbohydrates were correlated with increased values of factors related to carbohydrate catabolism. Different effects of BGRA43 and soybean carbohydrates on metabolic processes in colonic lumen indicate the possibility of applying the BGRA43 in alleviating the gastrointestinal symptoms occurring after consuming hardly digestible carbohydrates.