Mucosal washes are useful for sampling intestinal mucus-associated microbiota despite low biomass.

ABSTRACT: Understanding the dynamic relationship between mucus-associated microbiota and host health is critical. However, studies predominantly using stool samples may not accurately represent these bacterial communities. Here, we investigated the mucus-associated microbiota in the gastrointestinal tract of mice and the terminal ileum of humans using different sample types: mucosal washes, brushes, scrapings, and intestinal contents in mice and biopsies, brushes and mucosal washes in humans. We used DNA quantification and 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing to evaluate the comparability of the information yielded from the different sample types under a controlled benchmark. In mice, mucosal washes and brushes had comparative bacterial DNA and host DNA contamination than scraping samples. Similarly, in hum

SUBMITTER: Martinez-Medina JN 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11849919 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature