Decabromodiphenyl ethane exposure on gut microbiome and metabolism in vitro with SHIME

In conclusion, the experiment suggested that gastrointestinal exposure for different doses of DBDPE in human gut based on SHIME model could cause dysbiosis in structure, composition, function, and metabolism of gut microbiota. Additionally, the application of the SHIME model is an economical and practical human intestinal simulated way in vitro that can save costs and experimental animals, and thus the SHIME model is widely used in the study of gut microbiome. Nevertheless, due to the structural features of the simulator, the crucial limitation of this study is lacking of intestinal membrane permeability resulting in the non-absorption of SCFAs. Though the mechanism of DBDPE-mediated disorders in gut intestine was not so clear, we provided a preliminary basis for concentrating on the harmful relationship between DBDPE exposure and gut microbiota metabolism.