Synbiotic supplementation containing whole plant sugar cane Fibre and probiotic spores potentiates protective synergistic effects in mouse model of IBD

Inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) are a chronic inflammatory disorders with increasingglobal incidence. Synbiotic, which is a two-point approach carrying probiotic and prebioticcomponents in mitigating inflammation in IBD, is thought to be a pragmatic approach owing to thesynergistic outcomes. In this study, the impacts of dietary supplementation with probiotic BacilluscoagulansMTCC5856 spores (B. coagulans) and prebiotic whole plant sugar cane fibre (PSCF) wasassessed using a murine model of IBD. Eight-week-old C57BL/6 mice were fed a normal chowdiet supplemented with either B. coagulans, PSCF or its synbiotic combination. After seven days ofsupplementation, colitis was induced with dextran sulfate sodium (DSS) in drinking water for sevendays during the continuation of the supplemented diets. Synbiotic supplementation ameliorateddisease activity index and histological score (−72%, 7.38, respectively), more effectively than eitherB. coagulans (−47%, 10.1) and PSCF (−53%, 13.0) alone. Synbiotic supplementation also significantly(p < 0.0001) prevented the expression of tight junction proteins and modulated the altered serum IL-1β(−40%), IL-10 (+26%), and C-reactive protein (CRP) (−39%) levels. Synbiotic supplementations alsoraised the short-chain fatty acids (SCFA) profile more extensively compared to the unsupplementedDSS-control. The synbiotic health outcome effect of the probiotic and prebiotic combinations maybe associated with a synergistic direct immune-regulating efficacy of the components, their abilityto protect epithelial integrity, stimulation of probiotic spores by the prebiotic fibre, and/or withstimulation of greater levels of fermentation of fibres releasing SCFAs that mediate the reduction incolonic inflammation. Our model findings suggest synbiotic supplementation should be tested inclinical trials