Project description:Opioids such as morphine have many beneficial properties as analgesics, however, opioids may induce multiple adverse gastrointestinal symptoms. We have recently demonstrated that morphine treatment results in significant disruption in gut barrier function leading to increased translocation of gut commensal bacteria. However, it is unclear how opioids modulate the gut homeostasis. By using a mouse model of morphine treatment, we studied effects of morphine treatment on gut microbiome. We characterized phylogenetic profiles of gut microbes, and found a significant shift in the gut microbiome and increase of pathogenic bacteria following morphine treatment when compared to placebo. In the present study, wild type mice (C57BL/6J) were implanted with placebo, morphine pellets subcutaneously. Fecal matter were taken for bacterial 16s rDNA sequencing analysis at day 3 post treatment. A scatter plot based on an unweighted UniFrac distance matrics obtained from the sequences at OTU level with 97% similarity showed a distinct clustering of the community composition between the morphine and placebo treated groups. By using the chao1 index to evaluate alpha diversity (that is diversity within a group) and using unweighted UniFrac distance to evaluate beta diversity (that is diversity between groups, comparing microbial community based on compositional structures), we found that morphine treatment results in a significant decrease in alpha diversity and shift in fecal microbiome at day 3 post treatment compared to placebo treatment. Taxonomical analysis showed that morphine treatment results in a significant increase of potential pathogenic bacteria. Our study shed light on effects of morphine on the gut microbiome, and its role in the gut homeostasis.
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:We compared the microbiota of paired mouse caecal contents and faeces by applying a multi-omic approach, including 16S rDNA sequencing, shotgun metagenomics, and shotgun metaproteomics. The aim of the study was to verify whether faecal samples are a reliable proxy for the mouse colonic luminal microbiota, as well as to identify changes in taxonomy and functional activity between caecal and faecal microbial communities, which have to be carefully considered when using stool as sample for mouse gut microbiota investigations.
Project description:Analysis of breast cancer survivors' gut microbiota after lifestyle intervention, during the COVID-19 lockdown, by 16S sequencing of fecal samples.
Project description:Prostate of SD rats was injected with 0.1 ml 1% carrageenan to induce chronic nonbacterial prostatitis, and the control rats injected with sterile saline. Then, the cecal contents were collected for 16S rDNA sequencing.
Project description:Introduction: Chronic sleep fragmentation (SF) is prevalent in contemporary human society, highlighting detrimental effects on glucose metabolism and adipose tissue morphology, which is closely linked to gut microbiota composition. However, it remains unclear whether sleep recovery (SR) after prolonged SF can ameliorate glucose metabolism, influence the transcriptome of inguinal white adipose tissue (iWAT), and whether these effects align with alterations in the gut microbiota. Methods: Mice were subjected to 8 weeks of SF and subsequently allowed 2 weeks of SR. We assessed glucose tolerance through intraperitoneal glucose tolerance tests (ipGTT), analyzed gut microbiota via 16s rDNA amplicon sequencing, and examined transcriptomic alterations in iWAT using RNA sequencing. Results: Despite the two-week SR following chronic SF, significant glucose intolerance persisted, accompanied by subtle shifts in the gut microbiota and alterations in gene expression within iWAT. The top hub genes Ncapg, Cenpe, and Tik were identified from the protein-protein interaction network. Conclusion: Even followed by a brief period of SR, prolonged SF still led to ongoing glucose intolerance and alterations in the adipose tissue transcriptome in mice. These changes were intertwined with modifications in the gut microbiome. The shifts in gut microbiota may play a pivotal role in understanding the sustained negative effects of SF.