Abstract: Objective To investigate the effects of lactulose or probiotics combined with lactulose on enteric flora of normal mice based on 16S rDNA sequencing technology. Methods C57BL/6J mice were divided into 3 groups (A, B and C). Group A was blank control group, group B and group C were given lactulose or probiotics combined with lactulose for 2 weeks, respectively. Probiotics were mixture of Bifidobacterium and Lactobacillus. Fecal samples collected before gavage, 1 week after gavage, and 2 weeks after gavage and mucosal specimens collected from executed animal, were sequenced for 16S rDNA. Results Compared with blank control group, Lactobacillus and Akkermansia were increased (0.1131/0.0515, P<0.01; 0.0391/0.0011, P<0.001) in lactulose group. Lactobacillus (0.1041/0.0407, P<0.05) and Faecalibacterium (0.0295/0.0070, P<0.05) were higher and Desulfovibrio (0.0052/0.0149, P<0.05) was lower in probiotics combined with lactulose group compared with blank control group. Conclusions Lactulose or probiotics combined with lactulose can increase beneficial bacteria and reduce detrimental bacteria, to regulate the intestinal microbiota.

Key words: lactulose, synbiotics, intestinal microbiota