-
Microorganisms Feb 2023The diversity and activity of sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB) in the camel gut remains largely unexplored. An abundant SRB community has been previously revealed in the...
The diversity and activity of sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB) in the camel gut remains largely unexplored. An abundant SRB community has been previously revealed in the feces of Bactrian camels (). This study aims to combine the 16S rRNA gene profiling, sulfate reduction rate (SRR) measurement with a radioactive tracer, and targeted cultivation to shed light on SRB activity in the camel gut. Fresh feces of 55 domestic Bactrian camels grazing freely on semi-arid mountain pastures in the Kosh-Agach district of the Russian Altai area were analyzed. Feces were sampled in early winter at an ambient temperature of -15 °C, which prevented possible contamination. SRR values measured with a radioactive tracer in feces were relatively high and ranged from 0.018 to 0.168 nmol S cm day. The 16S rRNA gene profiles revealed the presence of Gram-negative and spore-forming . Targeted isolation allowed us to obtain four pure culture isolates belonging to and . An active SRB community may affect the iron and copper availability in the camel intestine due to metal ions precipitation in the form of sparingly soluble sulfides. The copper-iron sulfide, chalcopyrite (CuFeS), was detected by X-ray diffraction in 36 out of 55 analyzed camel feces. In semi-arid areas, gypsum, like other evaporite sulfates, can be used as a solid-phase electron acceptor for sulfate reduction in the camel gastrointestinal tract.
PubMed: 36838366
DOI: 10.3390/microorganisms11020401 -
Frontiers in Cellular and Infection... 2023The aggregation of the neuronal protein alpha-synuclein (alpha-syn) is a key feature in the pathology of Parkinson's disease (PD). Alpha-syn aggregation has been...
INTRODUCTION
The aggregation of the neuronal protein alpha-synuclein (alpha-syn) is a key feature in the pathology of Parkinson's disease (PD). Alpha-syn aggregation has been suggested to be induced in the gut cells by pathogenic gut microbes such as bacteria, which has been shown to be associated with PD. This study aimed to investigate whether bacteria induce alpha-syn aggregation.
METHODS
Fecal samples of ten PD patients and their healthy spouses were collected for molecular detection of species, followed by bacterial isolation. Isolated strains were used as diets to feed nematodes which overexpress human alpha-syn fused with yellow fluorescence protein. Curli-producing MC4100, which has been shown to facilitate alpha-syn aggregation in animal models, was used as a control bacterial strain, and LSR11, incapable of producing curli, was used as another control strain. The head sections of the worms were imaged using confocal microscopy. We also performed survival assay to determine the effect of bacteria on the survival of the nematodes.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Statistical analysis revealed that worms fed bacteria from PD patients harbored significantly more (<0.001, Kruskal-Wallis and Mann-Whitney U test) and larger alpha-syn aggregates (<0.001) than worms fed bacteria from healthy individuals or worms fed strains. In addition, during similar follow-up time, worms fed strains from PD patients died in significantly higher quantities than worms fed LSR11 bacteria (<0.01). These results suggest that bacteria contribute to PD development by inducing alpha-syn aggregation.
Topics: Animals; Humans; Parkinson Disease; alpha-Synuclein; Caenorhabditis elegans; Escherichia coli; Desulfovibrio
PubMed: 37197200
DOI: 10.3389/fcimb.2023.1181315 -
Nan Fang Yi Ke Da Xue Xue Bao = Journal... Jul 2022To investigate the effect of QH06 on TNBS-induced ulcerative colitis (UC) in rats and explore the mechanisms in light of intestinal flora and intestinal immunity.
OBJECTIVE
To investigate the effect of QH06 on TNBS-induced ulcerative colitis (UC) in rats and explore the mechanisms in light of intestinal flora and intestinal immunity.
METHODS
Thirty-six male Wistar rats were randomized equally into control group, UC model group, and . QH06 intervention group. The rats in the latter two groups were subjected to colonic enema with 5% TNBS/ethanol to induce UC, followed by treatment with intragastric administration of distilled water or . QH06 at the dose of 0.21 g/kg. After 14 days of treatment, the rats were examined for colon pathologies with HE staining. The mRNA and protein expression levels of IL-4, IL-10, IL-12, and IFN-γ in the colon tissues were detected using RT-qPCR and ELISA, and the expression of TLR2 protein was detected with immunohistochemistry and ELISA. Illumina Miseq platform was used for sequencing analysis of the intestinal flora of the rats with bioinformatics analysis. The correlations of the parameters of the intestinal flora with the expression levels of TLR2 and cytokines were analyzed.
RESULTS
The rats with TNBS- induced UC showed obvious weight loss ( < 0.01) and severe colon tissue injury with high pathological scores ( < 0.01). The protein expression levels of IFN-γ, IL-12, and TLR2 ( < 0.01) and the mRNA expression levels of IFN-γ, IL-12 and IL-10 ( < 0.05) were significantly increased in the colon tissues of the rats with UC. Illumina Miseq sequence analysis showed that in UC rats, the Shannon index ( < 0.05) ACE ( < 0.01)and Chao ( < 0.05) index for the diversity of intestinal flora both decreased with a significantly increased abundance of ( < 0.01) and a lowered abundance of ( < 0.05). Compared with the UC rats, the rats treated with . QH06 showed obvious body weight gain ( < 0.05), lessened colon injuries, lowered pathological score of the colon tissue ( < 0.05), decreased protein expressions of IFN- γ, IL- 12, and TLR2 and mRNA expressions of IFN- γ and IL-12 ( < 0.01 or 0.05), and increased protein expressions of IL- 4 ( < 0.05). The Shannon index ACE ( < 0.05) and Chao ( < 0.05) index of intestinal microflora were significantly increased, the abundance of was lowered and that of and was increased in . QH06- treated rats ( < 0.01 or 0.05). Correlation analysis showed that IFN-γ was positively correlated with the abundance of , and IFN-γ was negatively correlated with the abundance of , , ___ and __; TLR2 was negatively correlated with __, ___ and .
CONCLUSION
. QH06 can alleviate TNBS-induced colonic mucosal injury in rats, and its effect is mediated possibly by increasing the abundance of SCFA-producing bacteria such as and inhibiting abnormal immune responses mediated by TLR2.
Topics: Animals; Colitis, Ulcerative; Colon; Interleukin-10; Interleukin-12; Male; RNA, Messenger; Rats; Rats, Wistar; Toll-Like Receptor 2
PubMed: 35869759
DOI: 10.12122/j.issn.1673-4254.2022.07.03 -
Frontiers in Microbiology 2023Increasing evidence suggests that gut microbiota is involved in the occurrence and progression of urinary system diseases such as clear cell renal cell carcinoma...
OBJECTIVE
Increasing evidence suggests that gut microbiota is involved in the occurrence and progression of urinary system diseases such as clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC). However, the mechanism of how alteration of gut metagenome promotes ccRCC remains unclear. Here we aim to elucidate the association of specific gut bacteria and their metabolites with ccRCC.
METHODS
In a pilot case-control study among 30 ccRCC patients (RCC group) and 30 healthy controls (Control group), 16S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) gene sequencing were analyzed from fecal samples collected prior to surgery or hospitalization. Alpha diversity and beta diversity analysis of the gut microbiota were performed, and differential taxa were identified by multivariate statistics. Meanwhile, serum metabolism was measured by UHPLC-MS, and differential genes were identified based on the database.
RESULTS
Alpha diversity found there were no significant microbial diversity differences of gut microbiota between the RCC group and the Control group. However, beta diversity analysis showed that the overall structures of the two groups were significantly separated ( = 0.008). Random Forests revealed the relative abundances of 20 species differed significantly between the RCC group and the Control group, among which nine species were enriched in the RCC group such as , and 11 species were less abundant such as four kinds of . Concomitantly, serum level of taurine, which was considered to be consumed by and released by , has decreased in the RCC group. In addition, macrophage-related genes such as was upregulated in ccRCC patients.
CONCLUSION
Reduction of protective bacteria, proliferation of sulfide-degrading bacteria , reduction of taurine, and enrichment of macrophage related genes might be the risk predictors of ccRCC.
PubMed: 37089532
DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2023.1133782 -
International Journal of Biological... 2020Trimethylamine N-oxide (TMAO) leads to the development of cardiovascular and chronic kidney diseases, but there are currently no potent drugs that inhibit the production...
Ranitidine and finasteride inhibit the synthesis and release of trimethylamine N-oxide and mitigates its cardiovascular and renal damage through modulating gut microbiota.
Trimethylamine N-oxide (TMAO) leads to the development of cardiovascular and chronic kidney diseases, but there are currently no potent drugs that inhibit the production or toxicity of TMAO. In this study, high-fat diet-fed ApoE-/- mice were treated with finasteride, ranitidine, and andrioe. Subsequently, the distribution and quantity of gut microbiota in the faeces of the mice in each group were analysed using 16S rRNA sequencing of the V3+V4 regions. Pathological examination confirmed that both ranitidine and finasteride reduced atherosclerosis and renal damage in mice. HPLC analysis also indicated that ranitidine and finasteride significantly reduced the synthesis of TMAO and the TMAO precursor delta-Valerobetaine in their livers. The 16S rRNA sequencing showed that all 3 drugs significantly increased the richness and diversity of gut microbiota in the model mice. Bioinformatic analysis revealed that the faeces of mice treated with ranitidine and finasteride, had significant increases in the number of microbes in the families g_Helicobacter, f_Desulfovibrionaceae, ASF457, and g_Blautia, whereas the relative abundances of microbes in the families sp._IPC1-8 and g_Bacteroides were significantly reduced. The microbiota metabolic pathways, such as nucleotide and cofactor and vitamin metabolism were also significantly increased, whereas the activities of metabolic signalling pathways related to glycan biosynthesis and metabolism and cardiovascular diseases were significantly reduced. Therefore, our study indicates that in addition to their known pharmacological effects, ranitidine and finasteride also exhibit potential cardiovascular and renal protective effects. They inhibit the synthesis and metabolism of TMAO and delay the deposition of lipids and endotoxins through improving the composition of the gut microbiota.
Topics: Animals; Atherosclerosis; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; Finasteride; Gastrointestinal Microbiome; Kidney; Kidney Diseases; Male; Methylamines; Mice; RNA, Ribosomal, 16S; Ranitidine
PubMed: 32071549
DOI: 10.7150/ijbs.40934 -
Microorganisms Sep 2021Antidepressants are drugs commonly used in clinical settings. However, there are very limited studies on the effects of these drugs on the gut microbiota. Herein, we...
Antidepressants are drugs commonly used in clinical settings. However, there are very limited studies on the effects of these drugs on the gut microbiota. Herein, we evaluated the effect of reboxetine (RBX), a selective norepinephrine (noradrenaline) reuptake inhibitor (NRI), on gut microbiota in both diabetic and non-diabetic rats. This is the first report of relation between reboxetine use and the gut microbiota to our knowledge. In this study, type-1 diabetes induced by using streptozotocin (STZ) and RBX was administered to diabetic rats and healthy controls for 14 days. At the end of the treatment, stool samples were collected. Following DNA extraction, amplicon libraries for the V3-V4 region were prepared and sequenced with the Illumina Miseq platform. QIIME was used for preprocessing and analysis of the data. As a result, RBX had a significant effect on gut microbiota structure and composition in diabetic and healthy rats. For example, RBX exposure had a pronounced microbial signature in both groups, with a low Firmicutes/Bacteroidetes ratio and low levels. While another abundance phylum after exposure to RBX was Proteabacteria, other notable taxa in the diabetic group included Flavobacterium, Desulfovibrionaceae, Helicobacteriaceae, Campylobacterales, and Pasteurellacae when compared to the untreated group.
PubMed: 34576843
DOI: 10.3390/microorganisms9091948 -
Polish Journal of Microbiology Sep 2023We aimed to compare the clinical efficacy of fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) from the same sex on ulcerative colitis (UC) patients. A total of 272 UC patients...
We aimed to compare the clinical efficacy of fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) from the same sex on ulcerative colitis (UC) patients. A total of 272 UC patients were selected in the prospective clinical study, which incorporated four distinct groups, each comprising male and female patients, who were either receiving FMT or placebo, respectively. FMT was performed by sending the gut microbiota of healthy female or male adolescents to the same gender patients via gastroscope three times (one time/three weeks), and a placebo was used with an equal volume of saline. Abdominal pain, diarrhea, thick bloody stool, intestinal mucosal lesion, and Mayo scores were measured. Self-rating anxiety scale (SAS) and self-rating depression scale (SDS) were evaluated. The changes of intestinal flora were detected by the 16S rRNA sequencing. FMT reduced the scores of diarrhea, abdominal pain, mucosal lesion, and Mayo, SAS, and SDS in UC patients compared to the placebo group ( < 0.05). Clostridiales and were dominant in gut microbiota from male patients and were reduced after FMT. Meanwhile, the abundance of , , and was increased in the male group. Female patients had a higher abundance of , , and before FMT, and it was reduced after FMT. Meanwhile, the abundance of , , , and was increased in the female group. There were no significant changes for the species in the corresponding placebo groups. FMT improved the UC symptoms of male and female patients, which may be associated with different gut microbiota changes.
Topics: Adolescent; Humans; Female; Male; Colitis, Ulcerative; Fecal Microbiota Transplantation; Prospective Studies; RNA, Ribosomal, 16S; Abdominal Pain; Bifidobacterium; Diarrhea; Fabaceae; Lactobacillus
PubMed: 37725892
DOI: 10.33073/pjm-2023-025 -
BMC Cardiovascular Disorders Mar 2024Recent studies have indicated an association between intestinal flora and lipids. However, observational studies cannot indicate causality. In this study, we aimed to...
AIMS
Recent studies have indicated an association between intestinal flora and lipids. However, observational studies cannot indicate causality. In this study, we aimed to investigate the potentially causal relationships between the intestinal flora and blood lipids.
METHODS
We performed a bidirectional two-sample Mendelian Randomization (MR) analysis to investigate the causal relationship between intestinal flora and blood lipids. Summary statistics of genome-wide association studies (GWASs) for the 211 intestinal flora and blood lipid traits (n = 5) were obtained from public datasets. Five recognized MR methods were applied to assess the causal relationship with lipids, among which, the inverse-variance weighted (IVW) regression was used as the primary MR method. A series of sensitivity analyses were performed to test the robustness of the causal estimates.
RESULTS
The results indicated a potential causal association between 19 intestinal flora and dyslipidemia in humans. Genus Ruminococcaceae, Christensenellaceae, Parasutterella, Terrisporobacter, Parabacteroides, Class Erysipelotrichia, Family Erysipelotrichaceae, and order Erysipelotrichales were associated with higher dyslipidemia, whereas genus Oscillospira, Peptococcus, Ruminococcaceae UCG010, Ruminococcaceae UCG011, Dorea, and Family Desulfovibrionaceae were associated with lower dyslipidemia. After using the Bonferroni method for multiple testing correction, Only Desulfovibrionaceae [Estimate = -0.0418, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.9362-0.9826, P = 0.0007] exhibited stable and significant negative associations with ApoB levels. The inverse MR analysis did not find a significant causal effect of lipids on the intestinal flora. Additionally, no significant heterogeneity or horizontal pleiotropy for IVs was observed in the analysis.
CONCLUSION
The study suggested a causal relationship between intestinal flora and dyslipidemia. These findings will provide a meaningful reference to discover dyslipidemia for intervention to address the problems in the clinic.
Topics: Humans; Gastrointestinal Microbiome; Genome-Wide Association Study; Mendelian Randomization Analysis; Atherosclerosis; Dyslipidemias
PubMed: 38431594
DOI: 10.1186/s12872-024-03804-3 -
Poultry Science Jul 2024Stress is known to disrupt the intestinal barrier and induce intestinal dysfunction. A critical role for gonadotropin inhibitory hormone (GnIH) in stress has emerged....
Stress is known to disrupt the intestinal barrier and induce intestinal dysfunction. A critical role for gonadotropin inhibitory hormone (GnIH) in stress has emerged. However, whether GnIH mediates stress-induced intestinal dysfunction remains unknown. The present study explored this question through in vivo and in vitro experiments in hens. Our in vivo experiments showed that continuous intraperitoneal injection of GnIH not only significantly increased the concentration of stress hormones in serum, but also significantly elevated the mRNA expression of glucocorticoid receptor (GR) in the duodenum and jejunum. Moreover, morphological and molecular analyses revealed that GnIH disrupted the physical and chemical barriers of the intestine and dramatically increased inflammatory factor levels in the intestine and serum of hens. Interestingly, the microbiomics results showed that GnIH altered the structure and composition of the gut flora in the cecum, revealing an increased abundance of harmful intestinal bacteria such as Desulfovibrionaceae. Similar results were found in in vitro studies in which the GnIH-induced intestinal mucosal barrier was disrupted, and inflammation increased in jejunal explants, although no significant difference was found in the expression of GR between the control and GnIH groups. Our results demonstrated that GnIH not only directly damaged intestinal barriers and elevated intestinal inflammation but also mediated stress and microflora imbalance-induced intestinal function disorder, suggesting that GnIH is a potential therapeutic target for gut dysfunction, stress-induced intestinal function disorder, and inflammatory bowel disease in animals and humans.
Topics: Animals; Chickens; Stress, Physiological; Female; Gastrointestinal Microbiome; Hypothalamic Hormones; Poultry Diseases; Avian Proteins; Intestinal Diseases
PubMed: 38697006
DOI: 10.1016/j.psj.2024.103757 -
Emerging Infectious Diseases Aug 2023An 84-year-old man in Japan who had undergone endovascular aortic repair 9 years earlier had an infected aneurysm develop. We detected Desulfovibrio desulfuricans MB at...
An 84-year-old man in Japan who had undergone endovascular aortic repair 9 years earlier had an infected aneurysm develop. We detected Desulfovibrio desulfuricans MB at the site. The patient recovered after surgical debridement, artificial vessel replacement, and appropriate antimicrobial therapy. Clinicians should suspect Desulfovibrio spp. infection in similar cases.
Topics: Male; Humans; Aged, 80 and over; Desulfovibrio desulfuricans; Aneurysm; Japan
PubMed: 37486321
DOI: 10.3201/eid2908.230403