Pectin supplementation accelerates post-antibiotic gut microbiome reconstitution orchestrated with reduced gut redox potential

Antibiotic-induced gut dysbiosis (AID) is a big challenge for host health, and the recovery from this dysbiosis is often slow and incomplete. AID is typically featured by elevation in redox potential, Enterobacteriaceae load, and aerobic metabolism. In our previous study, pectin-enriched diet could decrease fecal redox potential and modulate gut microbiome. Therefore, we propose that pectin supplementation may modulate gut redox potential and favor post-antibiotic gut microbiome reconstitution from dysbiosis. In the present study, AID rats were applied to investigate the effects of pectin supplementation on post-antibiotic gut microbiome reconstitution from dysbiosis. The results showed that pectin supplementation accelerated post-antibiotic reconstitution of gut microbiome composition and function, and led to enhancement of anabolic reductive metabolism and weakening of catabolic oxidative pathways. These results were corroborated by the measurement of redox potential suggesting that pectin favors post-antibiotic recovery from dysbiosis. Transplantation of the pectin-modulated fecal microbiota (P-FMT) accelerated the decrease in antibiotics-elevated redox potential and Enterobacteriaceae load similarly to pectin supplementation. Moreover, both pectin supplementation and P-FMT enriched anaerobic members primarily from Lachnospiraceae orchestrating with enhancement on microbial reductive metabolism in post-antibiotic rats. The findings suggested that pectin supplementation accelerated post-antibiotic gut microbiome reconstitution orchestrated with reduced gut redox potential, and the effect of pectin on redox potential was mediated by intestinal microbiota remodeling.