Project description:Major depressive disorder is caused by gene-environment interactions and the gut microbiota plays a pivotal role in the development of depression. However, the mechanisms by which the gut microbiota modulates depression remain elusive. Herein, we detected the differentially expressed hippocampal long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs), messenger RNAs (mRNAs) and microRNAs (miRNAs) between mice inoculated with gut microbiota from major depressive disorder patients or healthy controls, to identify the effects of gut microbiota-dysbiosis on gene regulation patterns at the transcriptome level. We also performed functional analysis to explore the microbial-regulated pathological mechanisms of depression. Two hundred mRNAs, 358 lncRNAs and 4 miRNAs were differentially expressed between the two groups. Functional analysis of these differentially expressed mRNAs indicated dysregulated inflammatory response to be the primary pathological change. Intersecting the differentially expressed mRNAs with targets of differentially expressed miRNAs identified 47 intersected mRNAs, which were mainly related to neurodevelopment. Additionally, we constructed a microbial-regulated lncRNA-miRNA-mRNA network based on RNA-RNA interactions. According to the competitive endogenous RNA hypothesis, two neurodevelopmental ceRNA sub-networks implicating in depression were identified. This study provides new understanding of the pathogenesis of depression induced by gut microbiota-dysbiosis and may act as a theoretical basis for the development of gut microbiota-based antidepressants.
Project description:Major depressive disorder is caused by gene-environment interactions and the gut microbiota plays a pivotal role in the development of depression. However, the mechanisms by which the gut microbiota modulates depression remain elusive. Herein, we detected the differentially expressed hippocampal long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs), messenger RNAs (mRNAs) and microRNAs (miRNAs) between mice inoculated with gut microbiota from major depressive disorder patients or healthy controls, to identify the effects of gut microbiota-dysbiosis on gene regulation patterns at the transcriptome level. We also performed functional analysis to explore the microbial-regulated pathological mechanisms of depression. Two hundred mRNAs, 358 lncRNAs and 4 miRNAs were differentially expressed between the two groups. Functional analysis of these differentially expressed mRNAs indicated dysregulated inflammatory response to be the primary pathological change. Intersecting the differentially expressed mRNAs with targets of differentially expressed miRNAs identified 47 intersected mRNAs, which were mainly related to neurodevelopment. Additionally, we constructed a microbial-regulated lncRNA-miRNA-mRNA network based on RNA-RNA interactions. According to the competitive endogenous RNA hypothesis, two neurodevelopmental ceRNA sub-networks implicating in depression were identified. This study provides new understanding of the pathogenesis of depression induced by gut microbiota-dysbiosis and may act as a theoretical basis for the development of gut microbiota-based antidepressants.
Project description:Exposure to environmental chemicals during windows of development is a potentially contributing factor in gut microbiota dysbiosis, and linked to chronic diseases and developmental disorders. We used a community-level model of microbiota metabolism to investigate the effects of diethylhexyl phthalate (DEHP), a ubiquitous plasticizer implicated in neurodevelopmental disorders, on the composition and metabolite outputs of gut microbiota in young mice. Administration of DEHP by oral gavage increased the abundance of Lachnoclostridum, while decreasing Akkermansia, Odoribacter, and Clostridium sensu stricto. Addition of DEHP to in vitro cultured cecal microbiota increased the abundance of Alistipes, Paenibacillus, and Lachnoclostridium. Untargeted metabolomics showed that DEHP broadly altered the metabolite profile in the culture. Notably, DEHP enhanced the production of p-cresol, while inhibiting butyrate synthesis. Metabolic model-guided correlation analysis indicated that the likely sources of p-cresol are Clostridium species. Our results suggest that DEHP can directly modify the microbiota to affect production of bacterial metabolites linked with neurodevelopmental disorders.
Project description:Instability in the composition of gut bacterial communities, referred as dysbiosis, has been associated with important human intestinal disorders such as Crohn’s disease and colorectal cancer. Here, we show that dysbiosis coupled to Nod2 or Rip2 deficiency suffices to cause an increased risk for intestinal inflammation and colitis-associated carcinogenesis in mice. Aggravated epithelial lesions and dysplasia upon chemical-induced injury associated with loss of Nod2 or Rip2 can be prevented by antibiotics or anti-IL6R treatment. Nod2-mediated risk for intestinal inflammation and colitis-associated tumorigenesis is communicable through maternally-transmitted microbiota even to wild-type hosts. Disease progression was identified to drive complex NOD2-dependent changes of the colonic-associated microbiota. Reciprocal microbiota transplantation rescues the vulnerability of Nod2-deficient mice to colonic injury. Altogether, our results unveil an unexpected function for NOD2 in shaping a protective assembly of gut microbial communities, providing a rationale for intentional manipulation of genotype-dependent dysbiosis as a causative therapeutic principle in chronic intestinal inflammation.
Project description:Intestinal microorganisms impact on health maintaining gut homeostasis and shaping the host immunity, while gut dysbiosis associates with many conditions including autism, a complex neurodevelopmental disorder with multifactorial aetiology. In autism, gut dysbiosis correlates with symptom severity and is characterized by a reduced bacterial variability and a diminished beneficial commensal relationship. Microbiota can influence the expression of host microRNAs that, in turn, regulate the growth of intestinal bacteria by means of bidirectional host-gut micro-biota cross-talk. We investigated possible interactions among intestinal microbes and between them and host transcriptional modulators in autism. To this purpose, we analysed, by “omics” technologies, faecal microbiome, mycobiome and small non-coding-RNAs (particularly miRNAs and piRNAs) of children with autism and neurotypical development. Patients displayed gut dysbiosis, related to a reduction of healthy gut micro- and mycobiota, and up-regulated tran-scriptional modulators. The targets of dysregulated non-coding-RNAs are involved in intestinal permeability, inflammation and autism. Furthermore, microbial families, underrepresented in patients, participate to the production of human essential metabolites negatively influencing the health condition. Here, we propose a novel approach to analyse faeces as a whole and, for the first time, we detected miRNAs and piRNAs in faecal samples of patients with autism.
Project description:DNA methylation profile of mouse sperm from conventionally-raised mice and gut dysbiosis experienced mice were characterized using whole-genome bisulfite sequencing. Genome-wide DNA methylation changes between control and dysbiotic male�s sperm were highly comparable, with no change in DNAme globally or at genomic features, only 21 differentially methylated regions (DMR) were identified, which did not overlap known regulatory elements. Epididymal sperm samples were harvested from 11 weeks old inbred male mice that were experiencing gut microbiota dysbiosis for 6-week (antibiotics treated, n=5), or drink sterilized water (control, n=5).
Project description:Instability in the composition of gut bacterial communities, referred as dysbiosis, has been associated with important human intestinal disorders such as CrohnM-bM-^@M-^Ys disease and colorectal cancer. Here, we show that dysbiosis coupled to Nod2 or Rip2 deficiency suffices to cause an increased risk for intestinal inflammation and colitis-associated carcinogenesis in mice. Aggravated epithelial lesions and dysplasia upon chemical-induced injury associated with loss of Nod2 or Rip2 can be prevented by antibiotics or anti-IL6R treatment. Nod2-mediated risk for intestinal inflammation and colitis-associated tumorigenesis is communicable through maternally-transmitted microbiota even to wild-type hosts. Disease progression was identified to drive complex NOD2-dependent changes of the colonic-associated microbiota. Reciprocal microbiota transplantation rescues the vulnerability of Nod2-deficient mice to colonic injury. Altogether, our results unveil an unexpected function for NOD2 in shaping a protective assembly of gut microbial communities, providing a rationale for intentional manipulation of genotype-dependent dysbiosis as a causative therapeutic principle in chronic intestinal inflammation. Analysis used RNA extracted from colonic mucosa of untreated, antibiotics-treated or metronidazole-treated C57Bl/6J and Nod2-deficient mice in CAC model. Direct comparisons were performed as follow: C57Bl/6J untreated mice vs Nod2-deficient untreated mice, C57Bl/6J antibiotics-treated mice vs Nod2-deficient antibiotics-treated mice, C57Bl/6J metronidazole-treated mice vs Nod2-deficient metronidazole-treated mice, C57Bl/6J untreated mice vs C57Bl/6J antibiotics-treated mice, C57Bl/6J untreated mice vs C57Bl/6J metronidazole-treated mice, Nod2-deficient untreated mice vs Nod2-deficient antibiotics-treated mice, Nod2-deficient untreated mice vs Nod2-deficient metronidazole-treated mice. Indirect comparisons with control data were made across multiple arrays with raw data pulled from different channels for data analysis.
Project description:Morphine and its pharmacological derivatives are the most prescribed analgesics for moderate to severe pain management. However, chronic use of morphine reduces pathogen clearance and induces bacterial translocation across the gut barrier. The enteric microbiome has been shown to play a critical role in the preservation of the mucosal barrier function and metabolic homeostasis. Here, we show for the first time, using bacterial 16s rDNA sequencing, that chronic morphine treatment significantly alters the gut microbial composition and induces preferential expansion of the gram-positive pathogenic and reduction of bile-deconjugating bacterial strains. A significant reduction in both primary and secondary bile acid levels was seen in the gut, but not in the liver with morphine treatment. Morphine induced microbial dysbiosis and gut barrier disruption was rescued by transplanting placebo-treated microbiota into morphine-treated animals, indicating that microbiome modulation could be exploited as a therapeutic strategy for patients using morphine for pain management. In this study, we establish a link between the two phenomena, namely gut barrier compromise and dysregulated bile acid metabolism. We show for the first time that morphine fosters significant gut microbial dysbiosis and disrupts cholesterol/bile acid metabolism. Changes in the gut microbial composition is strongly correlated to disruption in host inflammatory homeostasis13,14 and in many diseases (e.g. cancer/HIV infection), persistent inflammation is known to aid and promote the progression of the primary morbidity. We show here that chronic morphine, gut microbial dysbiosis, disruption of cholesterol/bile acid metabolism and gut inflammation; have a linear correlation. This opens up the prospect of devising minimally invasive adjunct treatment strategies involving microbiome and bile acid modulation and thus bringing down morphine-mediated inflammation in the host.
Project description:Gut dysbiosis is closely involved in the pathogenesis of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). However, it remains unclear whether IBD-associated gut dysbiosis plays a primary role in disease manifestation or is merely secondary to intestinal inflammation. Here, we established a humanized gnotobiotic (hGB) mouse system to assess the functional role of gut dysbiosis associated with two types of IBD - Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC). In order to explore the functional impact of dysbiotic microbiota in IBD patients on host immune responses, we analyzed gene expression profiles in colonic mucosa of hGB mice colonized with healty (HC), CD, and UC microbiota.
Project description:Intestinal microbiota dysbiosis is related to many metabolic diseases in human health. Meanwhile, as an irregular environmental light-dark cycle, short-day (SD) may induce host circadian rhythms disturbances and worsen the risks of gut dysbiosis. Herein, we investigated how LD cycles regulate intestinal metabolism upon the destruction of gut microbes with antibiotic treatments. The transcriptome data indicated that SD have some negative effects on hepatic metabolism, endocrine, digestive, and diseases processes compared with normal light-dark cycle (NLD).The SD induced epithelial and hepatic purine metabolism pathway imbalance in ABX mice, the gut microbes, and their metabolites, all of which could contribute to host metabolism and digestion, endocrine system disorders, and may even cause diseases in the host.