10.3389/fcimb.2019.00178.s001 Si Liu Si Liu Chaozeng Si Chaozeng Si Yang Yu Yang Yu Guiping Zhao Guiping Zhao Lei Chen Lei Chen Yu Zhao Yu Zhao Zheng Zhang Zheng Zhang Hengcun Li Hengcun Li Yang Chen Yang Chen Li Min Li Min Shutian Zhang Shutian Zhang Shengtao Zhu Shengtao Zhu Image_1_Multi-omics Analysis of Gut Microbiota and Metabolites in Rats With Irritable Bowel Syndrome.TIF Frontiers 2019 irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) water avoidance stress (WAS) fecal metabolomics profiling 16S rRNA gene sequencing correlation analysis 2019-05-29 10:43:47 Figure https://frontiersin.figshare.com/articles/figure/Image_1_Multi-omics_Analysis_of_Gut_Microbiota_and_Metabolites_in_Rats_With_Irritable_Bowel_Syndrome_TIF/8197904 <p>Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a common gastrointestinal dysfunctional disease. The pathophysiology of IBS is, however, largely unknown. This study aimed to determine whether evaluation of fecal metabolite and microbiota profiles may offer an opportunity to identify a novel pathophysiological target for IBS, and to reveal possible gut microbe–metabolite associations. By using gas chromatography coupled to time-of-flight mass spectrometry (GC-TOFMS) and 16S rRNA gene sequencing, we measured fecal metabolites and microbiota of the control and water avoidance stress (WAS)-induced IBS rats. We found a significantly differential metabolite profile between the IBS and control groups; a cluster of metabolites was also found to be significantly associated with the amount of defecations. Moreover, the WAS group exhibited a decreased alpha diversity of the microbial population as compared to the control group. However, the characteristics of gut microbiota could not differentiate the IBS group from the control group. Correlation of the metabolite level with the number of microbial genera showed no significant association between the control and IBS groups. This study provides a global perspective on metabolomics and microbiota profiling in WAS-induced IBS model and a theoretical basis for research on the pathophysiology of IBS.</p>