Metabolomic analysis of amino acid metabolism in colitic rats supplemented with lactosucrose.

Intestinal inflammation causes metabolic disorders. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of dietary supplementation with lactosucrose (LS) on the serum metabolome and intestinal luminal content of fatty acids in colitic rats. Colitis was induced in rats using trinitrobenzene sulfonic acid. Subsequently, rats received intragastric administration of either 250 mg LS/kg body weight or saline (the control group) every day for 5 weeks. Short-chain fatty acids in the intestinal lumen, blood profile, and metabolites in serum were measured, respectively, using gas chromatography, biochemistry analyzer, and nuclear magnetic resonance-based metabolomics combined with multivariate statistics. Metabolic effects of LS included: (1) decreases in concentrations of branched-chain amino acids (isoleucine and valine), alanine, citric acid, trimethylamine oxide and taurine, and the abundance of aspartate aminotransferase in serum; (2) increases in concentrations of glucose metabolites (including succinate) in serum; and (3) altered concentrations of butyrate in the cecal content and of butyrate and acetate in the colon content. The results indicate that LS supplementation to colitic rats affects whole-body metabolism of amino acids and release of aspartate aminotransferase and alkaline phosphatase from tissues into the blood circulation, and enhances the production of short-chain fatty acids in the intestinal lumen.