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ELAIA

Abstract

Atherosclerosis is a cardiovascular disease characterized by the hardening of arteries through the formation of cholesterol plaques. Cyclodextrins have the potential to treat atherosclerosis by shrinking plaques. These cyclic oligosaccharides are known to make complexes with cholesterol and have potentially dangerous side effects such as cytotoxicity and gut microbiome changes. This study looked for potential negative effects of cyclodextrins and cholesterol on gut bacteria. It was hypothesized that Bacteroides vulgatus will have decreased growth when grown in broth with cholesterol. In contrast, it was hypothesized that Clostridium bolteae will have decreased growth when grown in broth with cyclodextrins. Due to the fact that these bacteria are anaerobic, Clostridium bolteae and Bacteroides vulgatus, were grown using Gifu Anaerobic Broth under CO². Data was collected by using a spectrophotometer to measure changes in bacterial growth throughout the growth cycle. Each bacteria was treated with one of three chemicals at one of three concentrations to make a total of 9 different conditions. α-cyclodextrin, 2-hydroxypropyl-β-cyclodextrin, and cholesterol were used to treat the bacteria at concentrations of 1 mM, 10 mM, and 100 mM. The slopes of the log phase of bacterial growth were compared using a two tailed t-test with α = 0.05. Growth of Clostridium bolteae was significantly inhibited for most of the cyclodextrin treatments and all the cholesterol concentrations. Bacteroides vulgatus growth was inhibited by 100 mM concentrations of cholesterol and α-cyclodextrins. Interestingly, Bacteroides vulgatus growth was significantly increased when grown with 1 mM and 10 mM concentrations of cholesterol. These results demonstrate that cyclodextrins are associated with inhibited growth for these two prototypic gram negative and gram positive gut bacteria. Expansion of this study to other gut bacteria is key for a deeper understanding of the impact that cyclodextrins would have on the gut microbiome as a whole.

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