State Key Laboratory of Microbial Metabolism, School of Life Sciences and Biotechnology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, 200240, China.
Sci China Life Sci. 2018 Jul;61(7):762-769. doi: 10.1007/s11427-017-9097-0. Epub 2017 Aug 15.
The dextran sulfate sodium (DSS)-induced colitis model is a widely applied mouse model, but controversial results have been obtained from experiments using the same mouse strain under the same conditions. Because the gut microbiota play an important role in DSS-induced colitis, it is essential to evaluate the influence of the initial gut microbiota in this model. Here, we identified significant variations in the initial gut microbiota of different batches of mice and found that the initial intestinal microbiota had a profound influence on DSS-induced colitis. We performed three independent trials using the same C57BL/6J mouse model with DSS treatment and used high-throughput 16S rRNA gene sequencing to analyze the gut microbiota. We found that the structure and composition of the gut microbiota in mice with severe colitis, as compared with mice with milder colon damage, had unique features, such as an increase in Akkermansia bacteria and a decrease in Barnesiella spp. Moreover, these varied gut bacteria in the different trials also showed different responses to DSS treatment. Our work suggests that, in studies using mouse models, the gut microbiota must be considered when examining mechanisms of diseases, to ensure that comparable results are obtained.
葡聚糖硫酸钠（DSS）诱导的结肠炎模型是一种广泛应用的小鼠模型，但在相同条件下使用相同小鼠品系进行实验时，得到了有争议的结果。由于肠道微生物群在 DSS 诱导的结肠炎中起重要作用，因此评估该模型中初始肠道微生物群的影响至关重要。在这里，我们鉴定了不同批次小鼠初始肠道微生物群的显著差异，并发现初始肠道微生物群对 DSS 诱导的结肠炎有深远影响。我们使用相同的 C57BL/6J 小鼠模型进行了三项独立的试验，并用高通量 16S rRNA 基因测序来分析肠道微生物群。我们发现，与结肠损伤较轻的小鼠相比，严重结肠炎小鼠的肠道微生物群的结构和组成具有独特的特征，例如 Akkermansia 细菌增加和 Barnesiella spp. 减少。此外，这些不同试验中的变化肠道细菌对 DSS 治疗也有不同的反应。我们的工作表明，在使用小鼠模型进行研究时，在研究疾病机制时必须考虑肠道微生物群，以确保获得可比的结果。
