Background: The effects of the Total Gut Restoration (TGR) system supplementation on the gut microbiome were evaluated. Materials & methods: A mucosal in vitro simulation of the human gastrointestinal tract (M-SHIME®) system was inoculated with fecal samples from patients with inflammatory bowel disease. Chambers were supplemented for 5 days with the TGR system (five probiotic Bacillus strains, prebiotic mixture, immunoglobulin concentrate, amino acids and prebiotic flavonoids). Results: Compared with unsupplemented controls, supplementation was associated with a significant increase in short-chain fatty acid production, and changes to the microbiome were observed. Supernatants from supplemented chambers improved intestinal barrier function, increased IL-6 and IL-10 production and decreased MCP1 production versus control in Caco-2/THP1 coculture. Conclusion: Daily TGR supplementation facilitated changes to the gut microbiome of patients with inflammatory bowel disease.
Keywords: amino acid; flavonoid; human gastrointestinal tract simulation; immunoglobulin; inflammatory bowel disease; prebiotics; probiotics.
The Total Gut Restoration (TGR) system includes spore-based probiotics, prebiotics and a combination of immunoglobulins and amino acids. Each of these supplements has individually shown benefits for the health of the gut microbiome. We assessed the effects of daily supplementation with all TGR system components over 5 days in a laboratory simulation of the human gastrointestinal tract. We used fecal samples from patients with inflammatory bowel disease to learn whether supplementation would result in any changes to the gut microbiome in these patients. We evaluated changes in the production of short-chain fatty acids (considered beneficial for gut health) and changes in the composition of the gut microbiome before and after 5 days of TGR supplementation. There were significant increases in short-chain fatty acid production and changes to the microbiome that are considered to be beneficial to human health. These findings demonstrate that daily TGR supplementation may facilitate beneficial changes to the gut microbiome of patients with inflammatory bowel disease.