Effects of FBT215 and prebiotics on the gut microbiota structure of mice.

Imbalanced intestinal microbiota is associated with diseases, including inflammatory bowel disease and obesity, and diet can alter the structure of the gut microbiota. In this study, the effects of dietary treatments including the potential probiotic FBT215 with/without prebiotics on the intestinal microbiota composition of mice were investigated. FBT215 administration significantly decreased the Firmicutes/Bacteroidetes ratio and increased the abundance of and . The diversity within and between groups was measured according to α and β diversity metrics, respectively. The Shannon index of α diversity decreased significantly in all treatment groups except the probiotic group, although this group showed an increase in the Chao1 index. Principal coordinate analysis of β diversity showed that the groups had different species distributions. Finally, gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) concentration increased in groups fed FBT215. These findings improve our understanding of the association between the gut microbiota structure and specific probiotic/prebiotic-containing diets.