Development of a host–microbiome model of the small intestine

What is it about?

The gut environment is a network between microbes, host and environmental factors. Enterocytes and mucus-producing cells are the most abundant cell types of the intestinal epithelium, while the gut is the largest pool of macrophages in the human body. To study the gut ecosystem and the host-microbiome interactions in a non-invasive way, in vitro models resembling both the microbiota and intestinal epithelium are required. _x000D_ We developed a small intestine model containing enterocyte-, mucus producing-, and macrophage-like cells, in direct contact with a representative microbial community of commensal inhabitants of the small intestine in non-inflamed and inflamed conditions. The model was stable when exclusively exposed to the microbiota but responded synergistically to the inflammatory trigger and the microbiota, reproducing features of the gut wall under inflammatory conditions. The adhesion of only one (Veillonella parvula) of the eight strains present in the microbial community to the intestinal epithelium on inflamed condition may indicate a role on the host-microbiome interplay. _x000D_ This novel in vitro model may assist in overcoming sampling and retrieval difficulties when studying host-microbiome interactions in the small intestine.

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