Evaluation of the Escherichia coli population in the intestinal microbiota of rattus wistar submitted to secondhand smoke and supplemented with prebiotics

Abstract

Many chronic conditions, including smoking, have been shown to be associated with modifications in the gut microbiota and to remedy the effects of these changes, functional foods such as prebiotics have shown beneficial effects. The aim of this work was to evaluate changes in the bacterial population of Escherichia coli in the intestinal microbiota of rats submitted to passive smoke and to the supplementation of prebiotics incorporated into the basal diet. The animals were divided into: Control Group (CG) = basal diet; Smoking Control Group (GCT) = basal diet with exposure to smoking; Prebiotic Group (GP) = basal diet incorporated with 1g of Immunowall(R) per kg of diet; Prebiotic Tobacco Group (GPT) = basal diet incorporated with 1g of ImmunowallTM per kg of diet with exposure to smoking. The animals were exposed to the smoke twice a day for 180 days. The obtained data were analyzed through the nonparametric Kruklla-Wallis test. Bacterial populations were amplified by real-time PCR. The results of this study revealed a significant decrease (p = 0.04 and p = 0.01) in Escherichia coli population in the group of animals supplemented with prebiotics in the intestinal microbiota of rats exposed and not exposed to cigarette smoke reinforcing the modulating effect of potential pathogens on the intestinal microbiota by functional foods.