Planta Med 2019; 85(18): 1452-1453
DOI: 10.1055/s-0039-3399806
Main Congress Poster
Poster Session 1
© Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York

Assessing the role of the gut microbiome for the mode of action of the fixed herbal combination STW-5

TA Thumann
1   Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Graz,, Universitätsplatz 4, 8010 Graz, Austria
2   BioTechMed,, Mozartgasse 12, 8010 Graz, Austria
,
EM Pferschy-Wenzig
1   Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Graz,, Universitätsplatz 4, 8010 Graz, Austria
2   BioTechMed,, Mozartgasse 12, 8010 Graz, Austria
,
C Moissl-Eichinger
2   BioTechMed,, Mozartgasse 12, 8010 Graz, Austria
3   Center for Medical Research, Medical University of Graz,, Stiftingtalstraße 24, 8010 Graz, Austria
,
S Duller
3   Center for Medical Research, Medical University of Graz,, Stiftingtalstraße 24, 8010 Graz, Austria
,
C Högenauer
4   Medical University of Graz,, Department of Internal Medicine, Stiftingtalstraße 24, 8010 Graz, Austria
,
P Kump
4   Medical University of Graz,, Department of Internal Medicine, Stiftingtalstraße 24, 8010 Graz, Austria
,
H Aziz-Kalbhenn
5   Steigerwald Arzneimittelwerk GmbH, Bayer Consumer Health,, Havelstraße 5, 64295 Darmstadt, Germany
,
R Ammar
5   Steigerwald Arzneimittelwerk GmbH, Bayer Consumer Health,, Havelstraße 5, 64295 Darmstadt, Germany
,
S Rabini
5   Steigerwald Arzneimittelwerk GmbH, Bayer Consumer Health,, Havelstraße 5, 64295 Darmstadt, Germany
,
R Bauer
1   Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Graz,, Universitätsplatz 4, 8010 Graz, Austria
2   BioTechMed,, Mozartgasse 12, 8010 Graz, Austria
› Author Affiliations
Further Information

Publication History

Publication Date:
20 December 2019 (online)

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STW-5 is a fixed combination of nine medicinal plants, that is used for the treatment of functional gastrointestinal disorders.

An in-vitro platform was used to simulate the digestion of STW-5 in the upper intestinal tract, followed by microbial fermentation with human faecal samples to assess its possible impact on human gut microbiome. STW-5 was predigested by means of the static in-vitro digestion model InfoGest [1] to mimic the conditions in the upper gastrointestinal tract. Thereafter, the predigested STW-5 was incubated with 10% stool suspension obtained from 10 healthy donors under anoxic conditions at 37°C (physiological conditions). Samples were drawn after 30min, 4h and 24h of incubation, in order to investigate the changes of the metabolic profiles caused by gut microbial metabolization of STW-5 by UHPLC-HRMS metabolomics, and to detect shifts in the microbial community composition occurring upon incubation with STW-5 by Illumina 16S-rDNA Next Generation Sequencing [2].

In-vitro predigestion did not significantly alter the composition of STW-5. While phenolic constituents like liquiritin were completely degraded after 30min by the human stool slurries, residual amounts of the triterpene glycoside glycyrrhizic acid (2-13% of initial levels) were still detectable in 4 of 10 samples after 24h. Metabolites like davidigenin became detectable after 30min or 4h and decreased again in 7 samples after 24h, indicating their further metabolization. The microbiome composition of the 10 samples was very heterogenous, indicating that microbiome shifts caused by STW-5 depend on the individual donor’s gut microbiome.

 

  • References

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