ABSTRACT
Objective To investigate the characteristics of gut microbiota in SD rat model of diabetes mellitus induced by streptozotocin (STZ). Methods Twenty-five male SD rats were randomly divided into control (C) (n＝10) and diabetes (M) (n＝15) groups. Rats in the group M received intravenous injection of streptozotocin (30 mg/kg) once per day for 5 consecutive days. Fecal samples were collected and examined for the V3 region of the 16S rDNA gene by Illumina Miseq high-throughput sequencing. The abundance and composition of gut microbiota were analyzed by cluster analysis. Results DNA sequence analysis was successfully performed. The Chao 1 index was lower in the group M than group C (P＜ 0. 05). The Shannon index was lower and the Simpson index was higher in the group M than group C (P＜0. 05). At phylum level, the relative abundance of Proteobacteria, Cyanobacteria, Tenericutes, TM7, and Actinobacteria was lower in the group M than group C (P＜ 0. 05). At genus level, 4 weeks after injection,the abundance of Lactobacillus was lower and that of Bacteroidetes was higher in the group M than group C ( P＜ 0. 05). 12 weeks after injection, the relative abundance of Lactobacillus,Bacteroides and Ruminococcus was higher and that of Bifidobacterium was lower in the group M than group C ( P＜ 0. 05). Conclusions This STZ-induced diabetic SD rat model has a low abundance and diversity of gut microbiota. Quantitative analysis of gut microbiota composition in this animal model provides a basic data for the study of relationship between diabetes mellitus and gut microbiota.