The Effects of Ogi, Omidun and pure lactobacilli on Bacterial Diversity and Population Structure in Rat model of colitis

Ogi is a popular Nigeria breakfast cereal made from maize, millet or soghum. The fermented Ogi separates into solid mass (Ogi) and water on top (Omidun). Ogi is usually mixed with hot water to form a paste and eaten. However, Omidun is traditionally used for therapeutic purposes. It is often use as a base to soak local herbs in the treatment of malaria, hypentension and other sicknesses. Also, raw Omidun is often administered traditionally to diarrhoea patients to reduce the frequency of stooling. The main organism in Ogi fermentation are lactic acid bacteria thereby increasing the potentials of Ogi to increase the intestinal lactobacilli contents. This could be interesting in sicknesses associated with microbial dysbiosis e.g. colitis. Therefore, the aim of this study is to determine the effect of 2 weeks consumption of Ogi and Omidun on lactobacilli quantities in rat gut and impact of beforehand consumption of Ogi and Omidun on microbial composition in colitis state. Female Wistar rats were distributed into five groups of 5 rats each; non colitic, untreated colitic, and colitic rats pre-treated with Ogi(1.25 mg/mL of 8.6 x 108cfu/mL), Omidun (0.5 ml of 1.3 x 107cfu/mL)from D0-D13 and further treated for 7 days with Ogi, Omidun or dexamethasone (4 mg/mL) post-colitic induction. The animals were pretreated with the various treatments used for 13 days before TNBS induced colitis on day 14 of the experiment. Thereafter, treatment continued for seven days. Faecal samples were collected at the beginning of the study, after 14 days intervention, after 7 days post colitis. Amplification of the V4 region of the 16S rDNA gene and bioinformatics analysis were done according to standard procedures Time of sample collection has the greatest effect on the gut microbiota composition. Differential abundance features were greatest in samples collected 7 days post colitis induction with succinivibrionaceae being the most differentially abundat biomarker. Samples collected after intervention and colitis were richer and more diverse than samples collected before treatment Bacteroidetes increase sharply after colitis induction in comparison to before and after treatment while Ogi group have the highest number of Lactobacillus after treatment The lactobacilli in Ogi survived the gastric conditions. Regular consumption of Ogi can improve the gut microbial balance. The project Coordinator is Dr. Funmilola A. Ayeni, from the University of Ibadan, Nigeria along with collaborators from Italy.