The Gut Microbiota as Target for Innovative Drug Development: Perspectives and a Case Study of Inflammatory Bowel Diseases

Comparative Analysis of Intestinal Tract Models

“…The first two reactors mimic the enzymatic and physicochemical environment by controlling pH, residence time, and dosing with culture medium, including enzymes and bile salts (Molly et al 1993). These two reactors have a fill-and-draw system with a dialysis filter used to simulate the absorptive processes occurring in the stomach and the small intestine (Vermeiren et al 2011). The last three-stage reactors, which simulate the large intestine, are continuously stirred vessels inoculated with fresh fecal samples corresponding to the in vivo situation in terms of metabolic activity and community composition, based on the aforementioned Gibson et al (1988) model.…”

“…Incorporation of this mucus layer reduces cytotoxicity resulting from direct interaction between a mixed bacterial community and the epithelial monolayer, allowing extension of experiments from a few hours to 48 h. Furthermore, use of two separate compartments allows the establishment of different oxygen pressures on both sides of the membrane to establish the optimal conditions for aerobic epithelial cells in the basal compartment and the anaerobic microorganisms in the luminal compartment. These combined features provide a tool for investigating the role of microbial metabolism on the biotransformation of active compounds and studies related to new drug development (Vermeiren et al 2011). The model can be combined with the SHIME system, thus introducing an additional host element by allowing analysis of mixed bacterial communities (Marzorati et al 2010).…”