Rat Fecal Metabolomics-Based Analysis

Abstract

The gut's symbiome, a hidden metabolic organ, has gained scientific interest for its crucial role in human health. Acting as a biochemical factory, the gut microbiome produces numerous small molecules that significantly impact host metabolism. Metabolic profiling facilitates the exploration of its influence on human health and disease through the symbiotic relationship. Fecal metabolomics-based analysis is an indisputably valuable tool for elucidating the biochemistry of digestion and absorption in the gastrointestinal system, serving as the most suitable specimen to study the symbiotic relationship between the host and the intestinal microbiota. It is well-established that the balance of the intestinal microbiota changes in response to various stimuli, both physiological, such as gender, age, diet, and exercise, and pathological, such as gastrointestinal and hepatic diseases. Fecal samples have been analyzed using widely adopted analytical techniques, including NMR spectroscopy, GC-MS, and LC-MS/MS. Rat fecal samples are frequently used and particularly useful substrates for metabolomics-based studies in related fields.The complexity and diversity of fecal samples necessitate careful and skillful handling to extract metabolites, while avoiding their deterioration, effectively and quantitatively. Several determinative factors, such as the fecal sample weight to extraction solvent solution volume, the nature and pH value of the extraction solvent, and the homogenization process, play crucial roles in achieving optimal extraction for obtaining high-quality metabolic fingerprints, whether for untargeted or targeted metabolomics.

Keywords: Fecal extract; Fecal samples; GC-MS; Gut microbiome; Gut microbiota; LC-MS/MS; Metabolic profiling; Metabolites; Metabolome; Metabolomics; Metabonomics; NMR; Rats; Sample preparation.