Mentors: Jun Zeng, Dr. David Lawrence
The human gut microbiome performs several important services beneficial to host health. In hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT) patients, who often undergo total parenteral nutrition (TPN), this microbiome can become disrupted. However, we do not understand exactlyhow microbiome function is altered. We investigated the consequence of TPN on the gut microbiome’s ability to digest fiber and produce short chain fatty acids (SCFAs) through a fermentation experiment, testing the hypothesis that the level of fiber fermentation is lower in TPN microbiota samples than in normal diet (ND) samples due to microbiome disruption. We introduced inulin to HSCT stool samples and left them to digest for a period of 24 hours. High-Performance Anion-Exchange and Gas Chromatography analyses were used to measure concentrations of inulin and SCFAs, respectively, in the resultant solutions. We found that when introduced to inulin, the TPN samples had a greater fold change in SCFA composition compared to that of ND patients and TBD EFFECT WAITING ON RESULTS on fiber digestion. This analysis suggests that fiber supplementation in TPN patients can aid in reestablishing a healthy gut during and post-treatment and adds to our understanding of dysbiosis in human patients.
