Diversity and composition changes of intestinal Fungi in a mouse model of total parenteral nutrition

To analyze the diversity and composition changes of gut fungal communities between mouse model of total parental nutrition (TPN) and normal control mice.

After mouse model of TPN was constructed, fresh feces were collected from TPN mice (n=5) and normal control mice (n=5). Internal transcribed spacer (ITS) DNA sequencing was applied to determine intestinal fungi, and then bioinformatics analysis was conducted to identify the differences in fungal diversity, structure, and functional properties between the 2 groups of mice.

There were significant differences in Alpha diversity (P<0.05) and Beta diversity (P<0.01) of intestinal fungi between the 2 groups. In the TPN model group, the relative abundances of Candida, Penicillium, Aspergillus and Talaromyces were obviously reduced (all P<0.01). LEfSe analysis indicated that the above 4 strains were notably enriched in the normal control mice.

TPN mice exhibit characteristic changes in the composition of gut fungal flora compared to normal control mice. Dysfunction of gut fungal community may promote the occurrence of TPN related complications, and regulating the balance of gut fungal community may become a new strategy for preventing TPN related complications.