A Dietary Fiber-Deprived Gut Microbiota Degrades the Colonic Mucus Barrier and Enhances Pathogen Susceptibility.

ABSTRACT: Despite the accepted health benefits of consuming dietary fiber, little is known about the mechanisms by which fiber deprivation impacts the gut microbiota and alters disease risk. Using a gnotobiotic mouse model, in which animals were colonized with a synthetic human gut microbiota composed of fully sequenced commensal bacteria, we elucidated the functional interactions between dietary fiber, the gut microbiota, and the colonic mucus barrier, which serves as a primary defense against enteric pathogens. We show that during chronic or intermittent dietary fiber deficiency, the gut microbiota resorts to host-secreted mucus glycoproteins as a nutrient source, leading to erosion of the colonic mucus barrier. Dietary fiber deprivation, together with a fiber-deprived, mucus-eroding microbiota, p

SUBMITTER: Desai MS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5131798 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature