Multiomics analysis reveals the biological effects of live Roseburia intestinalis as a high-butyrate-producing bacterium in human intestinal epithelial cells

Butyrate-producing bacteria play a key role in human health, and recent studies have triggered interest in their development as next-generation probiotics. However, there remains limited knowledge not only on the identification of high-butyrate-producing bacteria in the human gut but also in the metabolic capacities for prebiotic carbohydrates and their interaction with the host. Herein, we discovered that Roseburia intestinalis produces higher levels of butyrate and digests a wider variety of prebiotic polysaccharide structures compared with other human major butyrate-producing bacteria. Moreover, R. intestinalis extracts upregulated the mRNA expression of tight junction proteins (i.e., TJP1, OCLN, and CLDN3) in human intestinal epithelial cells. We cultured R. intestinalis with human intestinal epithelial cells in the mimetic intestinal host–microbe interaction coculture system to explore the health-promoting effects using multiomics approaches. Consequently, we discovered that live R. intestinalis enhances purine metabolism and the oxidative pathway, increasing adenosine triphosphate levels in human intestinal epithelial cells, but that heat-killed bacteria had no effect. Therefore, this study proposes that R. intestinalis has potentially high value as a next-generation probiotic to promote host intestinal health.