Project description:Microbial functions in the host physiology are a result of co-evolution between microbial communities and their hosts. Here we show that cold exposure leads to marked shift of the microbiota composition, referred to as cold microbiota. Transplantation of the cold microbiota to germ-free mice is sufficient to increase the insulin sensitivity of the host, and enable complete tolerance to cold partly by promoting the white fat browning, leading to increased energy expenditure and fat loss. During prolonged cold however, the body weight loss is attenuated, caused by adaptive mechanisms maximising caloric uptake and increasing intestinal, villi and microvilli lengths. This increased absorptive surface is promoted by the cold microbiota - effect that can be diminished by co-transplanting the most downregulated bacterial strain from the Verrucomicrobia phylum, Akkermansia muciniphila, during the cold microbiota transfer. Our results demonstrate the microbiota as a key factor orchestrating the overall energy homeostasis during increased demand.
Project description:BackgroundWe investigated the diversity of the primary sequences of the 16S rRNA genes among 46 commensal Neisseria strains and evaluated the use of this approach as a molecular typing tool in comparison with PFGE analysis.MethodsIdentification to the genus was done using conventional methods and API NH (bio-Mérieux® ). Identification to species level was based on 16S rRNA gene sequencing. PFGE analysis was done using SpeI.ResultsFourteen, two, three and fourteen 16S rRNA sequence types were found among twenty Neisseria flavescens, two Neisseria sicca, five Neisseria macacae and nineteen Neisseria mucosa clinical isolates. Forty-three different PFGE patterns were found among the tested strains.ConclusionWe demonstrated a high diversity among 16S rRNA genes which was reflected by PFGE analysis.
Project description:Ulcerative colitis (UC) is a complex immune-mediated inflammatory disease. In recent years, the incidence of UC has increased rapidly, however, its exact etiology and mechanism are still unclear. Based on the definite anti-inflammatory and antibacterial activities of Sanguisorba officinalis L., we studied its monomer methyl gallate (MG). In this study, we employed flow cytometry and detected nitric oxide production, finding MG regulated macrophage polarization and inhibited the expression of proinflammatory cytokines in vitro. MG also exhibited anti-inflammatory activity with ameliorating body weight loss, improving colon length and histological damage in dextran sulfate sodium-induced UC mice. Meanwhile, transcription sequencing and 16S rRNA sequencing analyzed the key signaling pathways and changes in the gut microbiota of MG for UC treatment, proving MG could alleviate inflammation by regulating the TLR4/NF-κB pathway in vivo and in vitro. Additionally, MG altered the diversity and composition of the gut microbiota and changed the abundance of metabolic products. In conclusion, our results are the first to demonstrate MG has obvious therapeutic effects against acute UC, which is related to macrophage polarization, improved intestinal flora dysbiosis and inhibition of TLR4/NF-κB signaling pathway activation, and may be a promising therapeutic agent for UC treatment.
Project description:The balance between tolerogenic and inflammatory responses determines immune homeostasis in the gut. Dysbiosis and a defective host defense against invading intestinal bacteria can shift this balance via bacterial-derived metabolites and trigger chronic inflammation. We show that the short chain fatty acid butyrate modulates monocyte to macrophage differentiation by promoting antimicrobial effector functions. The presence of butyrate modulates antimicrobial activity via a shift in macrophage metabolism and reduction in mTOR activity. This mechanism is furthermore dependent on the inhibitory function of butyrate on histone deacetylase 3 (HDAC3) driving transcription of a set of antimicrobial peptides including calprotectin. The increased antimicrobial activity against several bacterial species is not associated with increased production of conventional cytokines. Butyrate imprints antimicrobial activity of intestinal macrophages in vivo. Our data suggest that commensal bacteria derived butyrate stabilize gut homeostasis by promoting antimicrobial host defense pathways in monocytes that differentiate into intestinal macrophages.
Project description:The gut microbiota has been associated with primary Sjogren’s syndrome (pSS), yet the biological implications of these associations are often elusive. We characterized the fecal microbiota (16S rRNA gene amplification and sequencing) and the fecal metabolome (ultrahigh-performance liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry) in 30 patients with pSS and 20 healthy controls (HCs). In addition, microbial and metabolic data were cross-correlated to identify meaningful associations. We found that the microbiota composition of pSS patients was significantly different from that of HCs. The pSS gut microbiota is characterized by increased abundances of proinflammatory microbes, especially Escherichia-Shigella, and decreased abundances of anti-inflammatory microbes. Concerning the metabolome, a multivariate model with 33 metabolites efficiently distinguished cases from controls. Through KEGG enrichment analysis, we found that these metabolites were mainly involved in amino acid metabolism and lipid metabolism. The correlation analysis indicated that there were significant correlations between the microbiota and metabolism in pSS patients. In addition, an abundance of Escherichia-Shigella was found to be correlated with high levels of four metabolites (aflatoxin M1, glycocholic acid, L-histidine and phenylglyoxylic acid). Our research suggests that in pSS, the gut microbiota is characterized by a specific combination of proinflammatory changes and metabolic states. Escherichia-Shigella is a factor related to gut dysbiosis, which may promote intestinal damage and affect amino acid metabolism.
Project description:Whether myogenesis is affected by the maternal gut dysbacteriosis still remains ambiguous. In this study, firstly we show elevated level of lipopolysaccharides (LPS) in a gut microbiota dysbiosis mouse model. Secondly, we demonstrate that the diameter of muscle fibres, limb development and somitogenesis were inhibited in both gut microbiota dysbiosis and LPS exposed mice and chicken embryos. These might be due to LPS disturbed the cell survival and the key genes which regulating the somitogenesis and myogenesis. RNA sequencing and subsequent validation experiments verified that retinoic acid (RA) signaling perturbation was mainly responsible for the aberrant somite formation and differentiation. Subsequently, we found that LPS-induced Roxidative stress (ROS generation and antioxidant genes such as Nrf2, AKR) contributed to the above-mentioned interference with RA signaling. These findings highlight that the gut microbiota homeostasis also involved in regulating the development of muscle progenitor cells during pregnancy.
Project description:Cervicovaginal microbiome dysbiosis is associated with increased prevalence and incidence of sexually transmitted infections including HIV. We compared the cervicovaginal proteome as characterised by mass-spectrometry of four groups of African female sex workers (total N=50) grouped by microbiome composition as characterised by 16S rDNA microarray. Group 1 had a Lactobacillus crispatus-dominated microbiome, group 2 a L. iners-dominated microbiome, and groups 3 and 4 had a microbiome containing multiple genera of anaerobic bacteria, with group 3 representing transition to or from dysbiosis and group 4 full dysbiosis. 82 human proteins were differentially abundant among the groups, either showing an increasing or decreasing trend from microbiome groups 1 to 4. Proteins that increased included proteasome subunits and other proteins involved in catabolic metabolism, actin organising proteins and proteins involved in the immune response. Proteins that decreased included antiproteases, keratins, and cornified envelope proteins. We also compared the abundance of pre-defined proteins of interest among microbiome groups: markers of cell type, inflammation, and cell death, and mucins. The dysbiotic groups had increased abundance of proteins unique to lymphocytes and macrophages, pro-inflammatory cytokines, cell death markers, and MUC5B. We conclude that the cervicovaginal human proteome is associated with the cervicovaginal microbiome in a dose-response manner. The changes are likely caused by a pro-inflammatory influx of immune cells and an increase of cell death in dysbiosis. Dysbiosis-associated immune activation, breaches in epithelial integrity, altered mucin balance, and altered protease-antiprotease balance may all contribute to the increased risk of HIV transmission when cervicovaginal dysbiosis is present.
Project description:The aim of study is to evaluate whether salidroside (S), tyrosol (T) and hydroxytyrosol (H) which are dietary phenylethanoids of natural origins have an influence on reversing gut dysbiosis induced by metabolic syndrome (MetS) mice. C57 BL/6J female mice induced by high fructose diet were established. All mice were adapted to the environment for 7 days with normal diet and sterile drinking water (DW), and randomly divided into 6 groups. Mice in the ND group are fed with ND and treated with normal saline. Other groups were fed with high fructose (HFru) by administration of normal saline, salidroside (S), tyrosol (T) or hydroxytyrosol (H) for 12 weeks by intragastric gavage. Fresh feces from each mouse were collected one days before the end of the experiment and temporarily placed in sterile tubules, and then snap-frozen in liquid nitrogen. Total DNA from stool bacteria was extracted using QIAamp DNA stool mini kit from Qiagen (Germantown, MD, USA) according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Illumina HiSeq sequencing analysis of the DNA samples.16S rRNA gene sequence data further revealed that S, T and H could enhance the diversity of gut microbiota. In general, the abundance of Shigella, Acinetobacter, Lactobacillus, Staphylococcus and Sporosarcina had changed significantly. These findings suggest that S, T and H probably suppress lipid accumulation and to hepatoprotective effect and improve intestinal microflora disorders to attenuate metabolic syndromes.