detected in the DGGE analysis and the increase of this population in the JBOVS diet intake group was related to the acetate production process in the intestines. In addition, members of the genus Lactobacillus including L. murinus, which is well known to produce lactate, are predominant inhabitants of the intestinal tract of mammals, where they are thought to play an important role in the maintenance of colonisation resistance and prevention of overgrowth of enteric pathogens

( Okada et al., 2013). In addition, a recent study reported the increase in live L. murinus and lactate production was enhanced epithelial cell proliferation ( Okada et al., 2013). Therefore, it was suggested that the selleckchem increase in L. murinus in the JBOVS diet intake group

was related to the lactate production in our in vivo experiments. Taken together, the effect of JBOVS on the intestinal environment was to increase the production and population levels of these metabolites and bacteria, which in turn, might improve the intestinal immunity and contribute to the maintenance FK228 cost of homeostasis in the host-microbial ecosystem. This study identified JBOVS as a candidate prebiotic food by an in vitro screening method. The approach described herein should be useful as a screen for potential prebiotic foods and for estimating the effects of foods and their components on host-microbial symbiotic ecosystems. Although the mechanisms responsible for the JBOVS benefits remain largely unclear, our preliminary data suggested that the systemic effects on mice were observed as increases in potassium, boron, ethanolamine, and N-acetyl-d-glycoprotein levels in excreted urine, and decreases in succinate, creatine, and hypotaurine levels in excreted urine ( Figs. S5–S7 and Text S1). Future work will provide important information about the systemic and targeted effects of candidate prebiotic foods screened by our in vitro evaluation method on host-microbial symbiotic systems in mammals including human, and should serve as a useful diagnostic for personal and public health purposes.

In this study, Levetiracetam we performed an in vitro evaluation method using the metabolic dynamics of microbial community as an indicator for screening candidate prebiotic foods. The JBOVS, JBO, and onion were nominated as candidate prebiotic foods. In addition, characterisation of chemical and mineral compositions in the JBOVS revealed that sugar components, especially fructose-based carbohydrates were present in significant quantities in the JBOVS. Furthermore, validation of the effects of the JBOVS intake on mice was observed as increases in the L. murinus and Bacteroidetes sp. populations and acetate and lactate production levels in the intestine, which was largely consistent with the results from our in vitro incubation method. Our in vitro evaluation approach should be useful as a rapid and simple screening tool for potential prebiotic foods.