Effects of Bacillus coagulans TBC169 on gut microbiota and metabolites in gynecological laparoscopy patients

Abstract

Objective: The primary objective of this study is to investigate the mechanism by which Bacillus coagulans TBC169 accelerates intestinal function recovery in patients who have undergone gynecological laparoscopic surgery, using metabolomics and gut microbiota analysis.

Methods: A total of 20 subjects were selected and randomly divided into two groups: the intervention group (n = 10) receiving Bacillus coagulans TBC169 Tablets (6 pills, 1.05 × 10⁸ CFU), and the control group (n = 10) receiving placebos (6 pills). After the initial postoperative defecation, fecal samples were collected from each subject to analyze their gut microbiota and metabolic profiles by high-throughput 16S rRNA gene sequencing analysis and untargeted metabonomic.

Results: There were no statistically significant differences observed in the α-diversity and β-diversity between the two groups; however, in the intervention group, there was a significant reduction in the relative abundance of unclassified_Enterobacteriaceae at the genus level. Furthermore, the control group showed increased levels of Holdemanella and Enterobacter, whereas the intervention group exhibited elevated levels of Intestinimonas. And administration of Bacillus coagulans TBC169 led to variations in 2 metabolic pathways: D-glutamine and D-glutamate metabolism, and arginine biosynthesis.

Conclusion: This study demonstrated that consuming Bacillus coagulans TBC169 after gynecological laparoscopic surgery might inhibit the proliferation of harmful Enterobacteriaceae; mainly influence 2 pathways including D-glutamine and D-glutamate metabolism, and arginine biosynthesis; and regulate metabolites related to immunity and intestinal motility; which can help regulate immune function, maintain intestinal balance, promote intestinal peristalsis, and thus accelerate the recovery of intestinal function.

Keywords: Bacillus coagulans; gut microbiota; gynecological laparoscopic surgery; intestinal function; metabolite.

Figure 1

Schematic representation of patient medication administration. Patients took the first dose of BCTL or placebo after preoperative bowel cleaning at the night before operation; and since the patients woke up from anesthesia, they were administered BCTL or placebo every 8 h until the first flatus after surgery.

Figure 2

α-diversity data of the BC group and CT group: (A) Chao1 index, (B) PD whole tree, (C) Shannon index, and (D) Simpson index. β-diversity data of the BC group and CT group: (E) weighted unifrac distances, (F) unweighted unifrac distances. The boxplot shows the mean unifrac distances for BC group and CT group: (G) weighted unifrac distances (BC vs. CT, p = 0.886), (H) unweighted unifrac distances (BC vs. CT, p = 0.790). (In the boxplot above, “All between” represents the beta-distance data of all inter-group samples, and “All within” represents the beta-distance data of all intra-group samples).

Figure 3

Relative abundance of GM at phylum level (A), genus level (B), and species level (C) between two groups; and results of LEfSe (D) and LDA scores (E).

Figure 4

(A) PCA score plot. (B) Heatmap of the differential metabolites. (C) 2 metabolic pathways with significant variations in BC group.