Microbial fingerprinting detects intestinal microbiota dysbiosis in Zebrafish models with chemically-induced enterocolitis

BACKGROUND: Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) involves a breakdown in interactions between the host immune response and the resident commensal microbiota. Recent studies have suggested gut physiology and pathology relevant to human IBD can be rapidly modeled in zebrafish larvae. The aim of this study was to investigate the dysbiosis of intestinal microbiota in zebrafish models with IBD-like enterocolitis using culture-independent techniques. RESULTS: IBD-like enterocolitis was induced by exposing larval zebrafish to trinitrobenzenesulfonic acid (TNBS). Pathology was assessed by histology and immunofluorescence. Changes in intestinal microbiota were evaluated by denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) and the predominant bacterial composition was determined with DNA sequencing and BLAST and confirmed by real-time polymerase chain reaction. Larval zebrafish exposed to TNBS displayed intestinal-fold architecture disruption and inflammation reminiscent of human IBD. In this study, we defined a reduced biodiversity of gut bacterial community in TNBS-induced coliitis. The intestinal microbiota dysbiosis in zebrafish larvae with IBD-like colitis was characterized by an increased proportion of Proteobacteria (especially Burkholderia) and a decreased of Firmicutes(Lactobacillus group), which were significantly correlated with enterocolitis severity(Pearson correlation p < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: This is the first description of intestinal microbiota dysbiosis in zebrafish IBD-like models, and these changes correlate with TNBS-induced enterocolitis. Prevention or reversal of this dysbiosis may be a viable option for reducing the incidence and severity of human IBD.