Fig 1.
Setup of BT preparation and characteristic of BT.
(A) A setup for BT preparation. BT was produced by filtering tap water through one activated carbon column, two ion exchange resin columns, one activated filter column, one Si minerals column, one UV sterilizer and magnetization. (B) SiO2 concentration of BT. With increased time of recirculation preparation procedure, the higher concentration of BT containing SiO2 was produced. The SiO2 concentration in the prepared BT was time-dependently increased in the 0.5BT, 1BT, 2BT, and 5BT as compared with tap water (n = 3). 0.5 BT, 12 h of recirculation preparation; 1 BT, 24 h of recirculation preparation; 2BT, 48 h of recirculation preparation; 5 BT, 120 h of recirculation preparation. The data are mean ± SEM and analyzed by one-way ANOVA. *P <0.05; ***P<0.001.
Fig 2.
Antioxidant activity of BT and plasma.
(A) The curves of CL counts in several kinds of water. B, baseline; L, luminal; H, H2O2. (B) H2O2 scavenging activity of BT. H2O2 scavenging activity was indicated by CL counts in several kinds of water. CL counts were decreased by 0.5 BT, 1 BT, 2 BT and 5 BT (n = 3). RO, reverse osmosis. (C) The curves of CL counts in plasma of different groups. B, baseline; L, luminal; H, H2O2. (D) H2O2 scavenging activity of plasma. CL counts were decreased by plasma of 5 BT drinking group (n = 3). (E) Glutathione peroxidase activity of plasma. The plasma from 5 BT drinking group demonstrated increased glutathione peroxidase activity (n = 3). GPx, glutathione peroxidase. The data are mean ± SEM and analyzed by one-way ANOVA. *P <0.05; **P<0.01.
Fig 3.
Status of animals and defecation recording.
The effects of drinking BT on the physiological parameters of body weight (A), dry weight of feces (B), the ratio of dry weight of feces to body weight (C), and moisture content of feces (D) in these five groups of mice (n = 10). All types of BT decreased dry weight of feces. The data are mean ± SEM and analyzed by one-way ANOVA. *P <0.05; **P<0.01; ***P<0.001.
Fig 4.
Effects of BT on gastrointestinal motility.
The effects of drinking BT on gastrointestinal transit in the five groups of mice (n = 10). Black arrows indicate the intestine traversed by the charcoal marker. S, Stomach; A, appendix. Only 5 BT decreased gastrointestinal transit. The data are mean ± SEM and analyzed by one-way ANOVA. ***P <0.001.
Fig 5.
Effects of BT on pylorus ligation induced ulcer.
The effects of drinking BT on pyloric ligation induced gastric juice secretion (A), the curves of CL counts from gastric mucosa free radicals content (B), and the free radicals content within gastric mucosa (C). B, baseline; L, luminol. (D) The histopathological evaluation of gastric mucosa. Yellow arrows indicate erythrocyte extravasation. (E) Quantitative analysis of histopathology. The area of different targets were shown as percentage (%). Gastric juice, gastric mucosa free radicals, erythrocyte extravasation, and area of IL-1β were decreased in 5 BT group. Area of 4-HNE were decreased in 2 BT and 5 BT groups (n = 8). The data are mean ± SEM and analyzed by one-way ANOVA. *P <0.05; **P<0.01.
Fig 6.
Variations of gut microbiota after BT treatment at genus level.
(A) Effects of drinking BT on the relative abundance of the top 10 most abundant flora of gut microbiota at genus level. Bacteria represented by different colors are marked in the upper right of Fig 6A. (B) Drinking BT increased the relative abundance of Ruminococcaceae UCG_005 and Prevotellaceae NK3B31_group, whereas decreased the relative abundance of Prevotellaceae UCG_001, Mucispirillum, and Rodentibacter (n = 8). C, control; 0.5B, 0.5BT; 1B, 1BT; 2B, 2BT; 5B, 5BT. Data of relative abundance are depicted in box and whisker plots and are analyzed by one-way ANOVA. *P <0.05; **P<0.01.
Fig 7.
Variations of gut microbiota after BT treatment at species level.
(A) LEfSe taxonomic cladogram derived from 16S sequences of gut microbiota among groups. Different colors represented significantly different taxa among groups. (B) The effects of drinking BT on the relative abundance of gut microbiota in species level. Drinking BT increased the relative abundance of Weissella paramesenteroides, Lactobacillus reuteri, and Lactobacillus murinus, whereas decreased the relative abundance of Staphylococcus aureus (n = 8). C, control; 0.5B, 0.5BT; 1B, 1BT; 2B, 2BT; 5B, 5BT; N.D., not detected. Data of relative abundance are depicted in box and whisker plots and are analyzed by one-way ANOVA. *P <0.05; **P<0.01.