RapidAIM: A culture- and metaproteomics-based Rapid Assay of Individual Microbiome responses to drugs

Abstract

The gut microbiome has been associated with a growing list of diseases. Drugs and other compounds can affect the microbiome, but our understanding of drug-induced changes in individual microbiomes is limited due to a lack of rapid and effective high-throughput assay methods. We developed an approach named Rapid Assay of Individual Microbiome (RapidAIM) to screen xenobiotics against individual microbiomes. RapidAIM was evaluated by testing 43 compounds against five individual microbiomes using a metaproteomic approach. We show that our workflow enables quantitative profiling of the microbiome. The tested compounds significantly affected overall microbiome abundance, microbiome composition and functional pathways at multiple taxonomic levels. The microbiome responses to berberine, metformin, diclofenac, fructooligosaccharide and most antibiotics were consistent among most individuals. Interestingly, most of our tested NSAIDs, statins, and histamine-2 blockers induced strong and individually distinct responses. Our workflow offers an effective solution to systematically study the effects of many different compounds on individual microbiomes.