Lithium carbonate alleviates colon inflammation through modulating gut microbiota and Treg cells in a GPR43-dependent manner

2021 ◽  
pp. 105992
Author(s):  
Shengjie Huang ◽  
Shiping Hu ◽  
Shuang Liu ◽  
Bo Tang ◽  
Yaojiang Liu ◽  
...  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaoyan Shi ◽  
Hanwen Huang ◽  
Min Zhou ◽  
Yarong Liu ◽  
Hongfei Wu ◽  
...  

Background: Paeonol (Pae) is a natural phenolic compound isolated from Cortex Moutan, which exhibits anti-atherosclerosis (AS) effects. Our previous work demonstrated that gut microbiota plays an important role during AS treatment as it affects the efficacy of Pae. However, the mechanism of Pae in protecting against vascular fibrosis as related to gut microbiota has yet to be elucidated.Objective: To investigate the antifibrosis effect of Pae on AS mice and demonstrate the underlying gut microbiota-dependent mechanism.Methods: ApoE-/- mice were fed with high-fat diet (HFD) to replicate the AS model. H&E and Masson staining were used to observe the plaque formation and collagen deposition. Short-chain fatty acid (SCFA) production was analyzed through LC-MS/MS. The frequency of immune cells in spleen was phenotyped by flow cytometry. The mRNA expression of aortic inflammatory cytokines was detected by qRT-PCR. The protein expression of LOX and fibrosis-related indicators were examined by western blot.Results: Pae restricted the development of AS and collagen deposition. Notably, the antifibrosis effect of Pae was achieved by regulating the gut microbiota. LC-MS/MS data indicated that the level of SCFAs was increased in caecum contents. Additionally, Pae administration selectively upregulated the frequency of regulatory T (Treg) cells as well as downregulated the ratio of T helper type 17 (Th17) cells in the spleen of AS mice, improving the Treg/Th17 balance. In addition, as expected, Pae intervention can significantly downregulate the levels of proinflammatory cytokines IL-1β, IL-6, TNF-α, and IL-17 in the aorta, and upregulate the levels of anti-inflammatory factor IL-10, a marker of Treg cells. Finally, Pae’s intervention in the gut microbiota resulted in the restoration of the balance of Treg/Th17, which indirectly downregulated the protein expression level of LOX and fibrosis-related indicators (MMP-2/9 and collagen I/III).Conclusion: Pae attenuated vascular fibrosis in a gut microbiota-dependent manner. The underlying protective mechanism was associated with the improved Treg/Th17 balance in spleen mediated through the increased microbiota-derived SCFA production. Collectively, our results demonstrated the role of Pae as a potential gut microbiota modulator to prevent and treat AS.


Theranostics ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (12) ◽  
pp. 5225-5241 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yao-Jiang Liu ◽  
Bo Tang ◽  
Feng-Chao Wang ◽  
Li Tang ◽  
Yuan-Yuan Lei ◽  
...  

2006 ◽  
Vol 25 (5) ◽  
pp. 243-250 ◽  
Author(s):  
M S Allagui ◽  
N Hfaiedh ◽  
C Vincent ◽  
F Guermazi ◽  
J-C Murat ◽  
...  

Lithium therapy, mainly used in curing some psychiatric diseases, is responsible for numerous undesirable side effects. The present study is a contribution to the understanding of the pathophysiological mechanisms underlying lithium toxicity. Male and female mature rats were divided into three batches and fed commercial pellets: one batch was the control and the second and third batches were given 2 g (Li1) and 4 g (Li2) of lithium carbonate/kg of food/day, respectively. After 7, 14, 21 and 28 days, serum levels of free tri-iodothyronine (FT3), thyroxine (FT4), testosterone and estradiol were measured. Attention was also paid to growth rate and a histological examination of testes or vaginal mucosa was carried out. In treated rats, a dose-dependent loss of appetite and a decrease in growth rate were observed, together with symptoms of polydypsia, polyuria and diarrhea. Lithium serum concentrations increased from 0.44 mM (day 7) to 1.34 mM (day 28) in Li1 rats and from 0.66 to 1.45 mM (day 14) in Li2 rats. Li2 treatment induced a high mortality after 14 days, reaching 50-60% in female and male animals. From these data, the LD50 (14 days Li2 chronic treatment) was calculated to be about 0.3 g/day per kilogram of animal, leading to Li serum concentrations of about 1.4 mM. A significant decrease of FT3 and FT4 was observed in treated rats. This effect appeared immediately for the highest dose and was more pronounced for FT3, resulting in an increase of the FT4/FT3 ratio. In males, testosterone decreased and spermatogenesis was stopped. Conversely, in females, estradiol increased in a dose-dependent manner as the animals were blocked in the diestrus phase at day 28. This finding supports a possible antagonistic effect of lithium on the estradiol receptors.


2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Velma T. E. Aho ◽  
Madelyn C. Houser ◽  
Pedro A. B. Pereira ◽  
Jianjun Chang ◽  
Knut Rudi ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Previous studies have reported that gut microbiota, permeability, short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs), and inflammation are altered in Parkinson’s disease (PD), but how these factors are linked and how they contribute to disease processes and symptoms remains uncertain. This study sought to compare and identify associations among these factors in PD patients and controls to elucidate their interrelations and links to clinical manifestations of PD. Methods Stool and plasma samples and clinical data were collected from 55 PD patients and 56 controls. Levels of stool SCFAs and stool and plasma inflammatory and permeability markers were compared between patients and controls and related to one another and to the gut microbiota. Results Calprotectin was increased and SCFAs decreased in stool in PD in a sex-dependent manner. Inflammatory markers in plasma and stool were neither intercorrelated nor strongly associated with SCFA levels. Age at PD onset was positively correlated with SCFAs and negatively correlated with CXCL8 and IL-1β in stool. Fecal zonulin correlated positively with fecal NGAL and negatively with PD motor and non-motor symptoms. Microbiota diversity and composition were linked to levels of SCFAs, inflammatory factors, and zonulin in stool. Certain relationships differed between patients and controls and by sex. Conclusions Intestinal inflammatory responses and reductions in fecal SCFAs occur in PD, are related to the microbiota and to disease onset, and are not reflected in plasma inflammatory profiles. Some of these relationships are distinct in PD and are sex-dependent. This study revealed potential alterations in microbiota-host interactions and links between earlier PD onset and intestinal inflammatory responses and reduced SCFA levels, highlighting candidate molecules and pathways which may contribute to PD pathogenesis and clinical presentation and which warrant further investigation.


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (5) ◽  
pp. 1037
Author(s):  
Craig Resch ◽  
Mihir Parikh ◽  
J. Alejandro Austria ◽  
Spencer D. Proctor ◽  
Thomas Netticadan ◽  
...  

There is an increased interest in the gut microbiota as it relates to health and obesity. The impact of diet and sex on the gut microbiota in conjunction with obesity also demands extensive systemic investigation. Thus, the influence of sex, diet, and flaxseed supplementation on the gut microbiota was examined in the JCR:LA-cp rat model of genetic obesity. Male and female obese rats were randomized into four groups (n = 8) to receive, for 12 weeks, either (a) control diet (Con), (b) control diet supplemented with 10% ground flaxseed (CFlax), (c) a high-fat, high sucrose (HFHS) diet, or (d) HFHS supplemented with 10% ground flaxseed (HFlax). Male and female JCR:LA-cp lean rats served as genetic controls and received similar dietary interventions. Illumine MiSeq sequencing revealed a richer microbiota in rats fed control diets rather than HFHS diets. Obese female rats had lower alpha-diversity than lean female; however, both sexes of obese and lean JCR rats differed significantly in β-diversity, as their gut microbiota was composed of different abundances of bacterial types. The feeding of an HFHS diet affected the diversity by increasing the phylum Bacteroidetes and reducing bacterial species from phylum Firmicutes. Fecal short-chain fatty acids such as acetate, propionate, and butyrate-producing bacterial species were correspondingly impacted by the HFHS diet. Flax supplementation improved the gut microbiota by decreasing the abundance of Blautia and Eubacterium dolichum. Collectively, our data show that an HFHS diet results in gut microbiota dysbiosis in a sex-dependent manner. Flaxseed supplementation to the diet had a significant impact on gut microbiota diversity under both flax control and HFHS dietary conditions.


2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (4) ◽  
pp. 1899 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hae Jeong Park ◽  
Sang A. Kim ◽  
Won Sub Kang ◽  
Jong Woo Kim

Recent studies have reported that changes in gut microbiota composition could induce neuropsychiatric problems. In this study, we investigated alterations in gut microbiota induced by early-life stress (ELS) in rats subjected to maternal separation (MS; 6 h a day, postnatal days (PNDs) 1–21), along with changes in inflammatory cytokines and tryptophan-kynurenine (TRP-KYN) metabolism, and assessed the differences between sexes. High-throughput sequencing of the bacterial 16S rRNA gene showed that the relative abundance of the Bacteroides genus was increased and that of the Lachnospiraceae family was decreased in the feces of MS rats of both sexes (PND 56). By comparison, MS increased the relative abundance of the Streptococcus genus and decreased that of the Staphylococcus genus only in males, whereas the abundance of the Sporobacter genus was enhanced and that of the Mucispirillum genus was reduced by MS only in females. In addition, the levels of proinflammatory cytokines were increased in the colons (IFN-γ and IL-6) and sera (IL-1β) of the male MS rats, together with the elevation of the KYN/TRP ratio in the sera, but not in females. In the hippocampus, MS elevated the level of IL-1β and the KYN/TRP ratio in both male and female rats. These results indicate that MS induces peripheral and central inflammation and TRP-KYN metabolism in a sex-dependent manner, together with sex-specific changes in gut microbes.


2014 ◽  
Vol 2014 ◽  
pp. 1-12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jie Yang ◽  
Yiming Yang ◽  
Huahua Fan ◽  
Hejian Zou

TGF-β-induced regulatory T cells (iTregs) retain Foxp3 expression and immune-suppressive activity in collagen-induced arthritis (CIA). However, the mechanisms whereby transferred iTregs suppress immune responses, particularly the interplay between iTregs and dendritic cells (DCs)in vivo, remain incompletely understood. In this study, we found that after treatment with iTregs, splenic CD11c+DCs, termed “DCiTreg,” expressed tolerogenic phenotypes, secreted high levels of IL-10, TGF-β, and IDO, and showed potent immunosuppressive activityin vitro. After reinfusion with DCiTreg, marked antiarthritic activity improved clinical scores and histological end-points were observed. The serological levels of inflammatory cytokines and anti-CII antibodies were low and TGF-βproduction was high in the DCiTreg-treated group. DCiTregalso induced new iTregsin vivo. Moreover, the inhibitory activity of DCiTregon CIA was lost following pretreatment with the inhibitor of indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase (IDO). Collectively, these findings suggest that transferred iTregs could induce tolerogenic characteristics in splenic DCs and these cells could effectively dampen CIA in an IDO-dependent manner. Thus, the potential therapeutic effects of iTregs in CIA are likely maintained through the generation of tolerogenic DCsin vivo.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alessia Costa ◽  
Barbara Rani ◽  
Thomaz F. S. Bastiaanssen ◽  
Francesco Bonfiglio ◽  
Eoin Gunnigle ◽  
...  

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mengxiao Ren ◽  
Yongqin Ge ◽  
Jindan Qi ◽  
Shengli Xue ◽  
Miao Miao ◽  
...  

Abstract Background: The characteristics of gut microbiota (GM) and its relationship with the Regulatory T Cells (Treg) remains unclear in patients with aplastic anemia (AA). Methods: This study was a cross-sectional survey which included 12 AA patients consisted of 6 with severity aplastic anemia (SAA) and 6 with non-severity aplastic anemia (NSAA) and 6 healthy participants. The GM and its relationship with the Treg cells of AA patients were analyzed. Results: The results showed that the presence of compositional differences in the GM structure between the AA and Control groups. The bacterial communities were depleted of Clostridia class (e.g., Lachnospiraceae ND3007, Lachnospiraceae XPB1014, Lachnolostridium, Ruminococcaceae UCG 013 and Butyricicoccus genus) in AA group, especially in SAA group. Inversely, the relative abundance of Lactobacillus and Streptococcus genus from Bacilli class were increased significantly in patients with SAA. The relative abundance of Lachnospiraceae (r=0.663, p=0.029), Clostridiaceae 1 (r=0.619, p=0.042) and Clostridiales vadinBB60 group family (r=0.674, p=0.023) which from Clostridia class, were positively correlated with the Treg cell counts. Conclusion: We speculated that the decrease of some bacteria from Clostridia class may participate in the pathophysiological process of AA through reducing the Treg cell counts. Notwithstanding the low sample size, our data provided some clues that the treatment strategy of AA could start by adjusting the imbalance of GM, increasing Treg cell counts to improve the suppression of bone marrow hematopoiesis.


2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 ◽  
pp. 1-18
Author(s):  
Nesrine S. El Sayed ◽  
Esraa A. Kandil ◽  
Mamdooh H. Ghoneum

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease characterized by cognitive impairment. Gut microbiota dysfunction (dysbiosis) is implicated in the pathology of AD and is associated with several detrimental consequences, including neurotransmitter depletion, oxidative stress, inflammation, apoptosis, and insulin resistance, which all contribute to the onset of AD. The objective of this study was to assess the effectiveness of Probiotics Fermentation Technology (PFT), a kefir product, in alleviating AD symptoms via regulation of the gut microbiota using a streptozotocin- (STZ-) induced AD mouse model and to compare its activity with simvastatin, which has been proven to effectively treat AD. Mice received one intracerebroventricular injection of STZ (3 mg/kg). PFT (100, 300, 600 mg/kg) and simvastatin (20 mg/kg) were administered orally for 3 weeks. PFT supplementation mitigated STZ-induced neuronal degeneration in the cortex and hippocampus, restored hippocampal acetylcholine levels, and improved cognition in a dose-dependent manner. These effects were accompanied by reductions in oxidative damage, proinflammatory cytokine expression, apoptosis, and tau hyperphosphorylation. Moreover, PFT hindered amyloid plaque accumulation via the enhancement of insulin-degrading enzyme. These beneficial effects were comparable to those produced by simvastatin. The results suggest that PFT can alleviate AD symptoms by regulating the gut microbiota and by inhibiting AD-related pathological events.


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