Abstract
BACKGROUND: Pregnancy is associated with important changes in gut microbiota composition. Dietary factors may affect the diversity, composition, and metabolic activity of the intestinal microbiota. Among amino acids, proline is known to play important roles in protein metabolism and structure, cell differentiation, conceptus growth and development, and gut microbiota re-equilibration in case of dysbiosis. RESULTS: Dietary supplementation with 1% proline decreased (P < 0.05) the amounts of Klebsiella pneumoniae, Peptostreptococcus productus, Pseudomonas, and Veillonella spp. in distal colonic contents than that in the control group. The colonic contents of Butyrivibrio fibrisolvens, Bifidobacterium sp., Clostridium coccoides, Clostridium coccoides-Eubacterium rectale, Clostridium leptum subgroup, Escherichia coli, Faecalibacterium prausnitzii, Fusobacterium prausnitzii, and Prevotella increased (P < 0.05) on d 70 of pregnancy as compared with those on d 45 of pregnancy. The colonic concentrations of acetate, total straight-chain fatty acid, and total short-chain fatty acids (SCFA) in the proline-supplemented group were lower (P < 0.05), and butyrate level (P = 0.06) decreased as compared with the control group. Almost all of the SCFA displayed higher (P < 0.05) concentrations in proximal colonic contents on d 70 of pregnancy than those on d 45 of pregnancy. The concentrations of 1,7-heptyl diamine (P = 0.09) and phenylethylamine (P < 0.05) in proximal colonic contents were higher, while those of spermidine (P = 0.05) and total bioamine (P = 0.06) tended to be lower in the proline-supplemented group than those in the control group. The concentrations of spermidine, spermine, and total bioamine in colonic contents were higher (P < 0.05) on d 70 of pregnancy than those measured on d 45 of pregnancy. In contrast, the concentration of phenylethylamine was lower (P < 0.05) on d 70 than on d 45 of pregnancy. CONCLUSION: These findings indicate that L-proline supplementation modifies both the colonic microbiota composition and the luminal concentrations of several bacterial metabolites. Furthermore, our data show that both the microbiota composition and the concentrations of bacterial metabolites are evolving in the course of pregnancy. These results are discussed in terms of possible implication in terms of luminal environment and consequences for gut physiology and health.