Functional interactions between the gut microbiota and host metabolism

The link between the microbes in the human gut and the development of obesity, cardiovascular disease and metabolic syndromes, such as type 2 diabetes, is becoming clearer. However, because of the complexity of the microbial community, the functional connections are less well understood. Studies in both mice and humans are helping to show what effect the gut microbiota has on host metabolism by improving energy yield from food and modulating dietary or the host-derived compounds that alter host metabolic pathways. Through increased knowledge of the mechanisms involved in the interactions between the microbiota and its host, we will be in a better position to develop treatments for metabolic disease.     

支气管哮喘患者肠道菌群多样性变化

 为了阐释支气管哮喘患者肠道菌群多样性及结构组成特征,探究肠道菌群与哮喘病的相互关系,以52例哮喘急性发作期患者及25例对照开展病例-对照研究.采集粪便样品,运用PCR-DGGE指纹图谱技术分析粪便菌总DNA,得到反映肠道微生物菌群结构特征的DNA指纹图谱.结果表明,哮喘个体样本的肠道菌DNA条带数量7—31条不等,平均只有17条;对照组样本个体的DNA条带数量14—36条不等,平均24条.哮喘患者肠道菌群的Shannon-Wiener多样性指数显著低于对照组(P＜0.0001).多变量统计分析表明,哮喘组肠道菌群结构组成显著区别于对照组,两组样本分类明显.两组内不同民族、性别间的差异无统计学意义.研究表明,哮喘患者的肠道菌群在分子水平上发生明显改变,多样性显著降低,肠道菌群结构改变与哮喘病有关;PCR-DGGE技术结合PCA、PLS-DA多变量统计分析手段具有预测性、先行性的优势,适用于菌群结构未知样品的研究.     

影响实验小鼠肠道菌群的多因素比较研究

目的比较研究影响实验小鼠肠道菌群的六种主要因素,为动物实验的设计和实验结果的解释提供参考,为肠道微生态菌群结构的干预与调控提供借鉴。方法采用珠磨法和酚-氯仿-异戊醇法提取肠道内容物中细菌基因组DNA,然后用16S rDNA V3区通用引物进行PCR扩增,扩增产物经DGGE电泳后用电泳条带数字化软件Quantity One和统计学软件SPSS对影响肠道菌群的六种因素(年龄、品种、饲养环境、饲料、个体差异和性别差异)进行比较研究。结果 Dice相关系数和主成分分析显示,年龄因素在早期(7和14日龄)对肠道菌群影响较大,到28日龄后,菌群结构趋向稳定,饲料和饲养环境成为主要的影响因素。品种和个体差异对肠道菌群也存在较大的影响,但性别差异影响相对较小,存在一定的随机性。结论以上六种因素均能在一定程度上影响肠道菌群,但其影响程度存在差异,在动物实验设计和实验结果解释时应充分考虑避免或利用这些影响因素。     

基于16S rRNA基因扩增子测序技术研究云南野生小型哺乳动物肠道菌群多样性

以生活在同一生境,但具有不同进化关系和不同食性的野生哺乳类动物(鼠科、猬科和鼩鼱科)为研究对象,通过16S rRNA基因扩增子测序,分析和比较其肠道菌群.共识别出5378个操作分类单位(OTUs),主要隶属 Firmicutes(40.55％),Proteobacteria(34.60％)和 Bacteroidetes...     

Inflammasome-mediated dysbiosis regulates progression of NAFLD and obesity

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is the hepatic manifestation of metabolic syndrome and the leading cause of chronic liver disease in the Western world. Twenty per cent of NAFLD individuals develop chronic hepatic inflammation (non-alcoholic steatohepatitis, NASH) associated with cirrhosis, portal hypertension and hepatocellular carcinoma, yet the causes of progression from NAFLD to NASH remain obscure. Here, we show that the NLRP6 and NLRP3 inflammasomes and the effector protein IL-18 negatively regulate NAFLD/NASH progression, as well as multiple aspects of metabolic syndrome via modulation of the gut microbiota. Different mouse models reveal that inflammasome-deficiency-associated changes in the configuration of the gut microbiota are associated with exacerbated hepatic steatosis and inflammation through influx of TLR4 and TLR9 agonists into the portal circulation, leading to enhanced hepatic tumour-necrosis factor (TNF)-α expression that drives NASH progression. Furthermore, co-housing of inflammasome-deficient mice with wild-type mice results in exacerbation of hepatic steatosis and obesity. Thus, altered interactions between the gut microbiota and the host, produced by defective NLRP3 and NLRP6 inflammasome sensing, may govern the rate of progression of multiple metabolic syndrome-associated abnormalities, highlighting the central role of the microbiota in the pathogenesis of heretofore seemingly unrelated systemic auto-inflammatory and metabolic disorders.     

益生菌、肠道菌群与人体健康

 肠道菌群与人体长期互作、共同进化,帮助宿主消化吸收食物中的营养物质、代谢宿主肠道中产生的有毒废物,同时产生人体必需的氨基酸、维生素、短链脂肪酸等功能物质为宿主所用。肠道菌群紊乱将导致诸如糖尿病、肠易激综合征等多种人体疾病的发生。因此,维护健康的肠道菌群平衡状态对维持机体健康十分关键。益生菌可以调节人体肠道菌群结构、抑制致病菌在肠道中的定殖,同时帮助宿主建立健康的肠黏膜保护层,增强肠道屏障作用,增强宿主的免疫系统。本文综述了乳酸菌、益生菌、人体肠道菌群的研究进展,论述了中国人群的肠道菌群特征,分析了基因型与饮食对肠道菌群的影响,指出了肠道菌群领域的研究热点及发展趋势。     

肠道菌群利用去淀粉麦麸体外发酵产短链脂肪酸

肠道菌群中不同菌对同一种不消化性碳水化合物的利用程度不同.本实验利用去淀粉麦麸(destarched wheat bran,DWB)作为碳源,用人体粪便作为肠道细菌来源,对不同肠道菌群进行体外发酵培养,在不同时间取其发酵液,测定发酵液内SCFA的种类和数量的变化.结果显示,肠道中各种细菌(包括非益生菌)均能利用DWB产...     

肠道菌群的形成及影响因素研究进展

肠道菌群对人体健康具有重要作用,而年龄、饮食、抗菌药物使用和心理压力等多种因素可以影响其形成和组成。本文就相关影响因素研究进展进行综述。     

An obesity-associated gut microbiome with increased capacity for energy harvest

The worldwide obesity epidemic is stimulating efforts to identify host and environmental factors that affect energy balance. Comparisons of the distal gut microbiota of genetically obese mice and their lean littermates, as well as those of obese and lean human volunteers have revealed that obesity is associated with changes in the relative abundance of the two dominant bacterial divisions, the Bacteroidetes and the Firmicutes. Here we demonstrate through metagenomic and biochemical analyses that these changes affect the metabolic potential of the mouse gut microbiota. Our results indicate that the obese microbiome has an increased capacity to harvest energy from the diet. Furthermore, this trait is transmissible: colonization of germ-free mice with an 'obese microbiota' results in a significantly greater increase in total body fat than colonization with a 'lean microbiota'. These results identify the gut microbiota as an additional contributing factor to the pathophysiology of obesity.     

Innate immunity and intestinal microbiota in the development of Type 1 diabetes

Type 1 diabetes (T1D) is a debilitating autoimmune disease that results from T-cell-mediated destruction of insulin-producing beta-cells. Its incidence has increased during the past several decades in developed countries, suggesting that changes in the environment (including the human microbial environment) may influence disease pathogenesis. The incidence of spontaneous T1D in non-obese diabetic (NOD) mice can be affected by the microbial environment in the animal housing facility or by exposure to microbial stimuli, such as injection with mycobacteria or various microbial products. Here we show that specific pathogen-free NOD mice lacking MyD88 protein (an adaptor for multiple innate immune receptors that recognize microbial stimuli) do not develop T1D. The effect is dependent on commensal microbes because germ-free MyD88-negative NOD mice develop robust diabetes, whereas colonization of these germ-free MyD88-negative NOD mice with a defined microbial consortium (representing bacterial phyla normally present in human gut) attenuates T1D. We also find that MyD88 deficiency changes the composition of the distal gut microbiota, and that exposure to the microbiota of specific pathogen-free MyD88-negative NOD donors attenuates T1D in germ-free NOD recipients. Together, these findings indicate that interaction of the intestinal microbes with the innate immune system is a critical epigenetic factor modifying T1D predisposition.     

UPLC-Q-TOFMS/MS联用技术分析大鼠肠道微生物体外对小檗碱的代谢产物

采用大鼠肠道微生物和小檗碱进行体外厌氧共培养,并利用超高效液相色谱-四极杆飞行时间串联质谱联用仪(UPLC-Q-TOFMS/MS)分析小檗碱的代谢产物,探讨大鼠肠道微生物对小檗碱的生物转化过程.采用UPLC的方法,有效分离得到小檗碱及其代谢产物,再采用串联质谱对代谢产物进行结构解析及鉴定.研究结果发现,在体外条件下,大鼠肠道微生物通过脱甲基、脱羟基、去亚甲基等反应将小檗碱转化为小檗红碱,药根碱等5种代谢产物.     

不同摄入量小米对小鼠肠道菌群和短链脂肪酸的影响

摄入一定量杂粮可降低一些慢性代谢疾病的发病率,但目前杂粮摄入量没有统一的标准,尚不清楚杂粮摄入过多是否会对健康产生不良影响。以小米添加量为20%、40%、60%、80%的饲料喂养3周龄C57BL/6J小鼠,持续12周,采用自动血生化分析仪、16S rRNA高通量基因测序、气相色谱-质谱联用仪分析了不同摄入量小米对小鼠血脂水平、肠道菌群和粪便短链脂肪酸的影响。结果发现,80%摄入量的小米显著增加了小鼠血清的总胆固醇、高密度脂蛋白胆固醇和低密度脂蛋白胆固醇的水平,同时增加了肠道丙酸、丁酸、异丁酸和戊酸的含量。肠道菌群分析结果表明,所有小米干预组的拟杆菌门(Bacteroidota)、Muribaculaceae的丰度上升,厚壁菌门(Firmicutes)、放线菌门(Actinobacteriota)、乳杆菌科(Lactobacillaceae)、双歧杆菌属 (Bifidobacterium)的丰度下降。摄入不同添加量小米的小鼠肠道菌群组成具有较大差异,其中20%小米摄入量组的小鼠菌群中显著富集了另枝菌属(Alistipes)、副拟杆菌属(Parabacteroides)、肠杆菌属(Enterorhabdus),而80%摄入量小米显著降低了小鼠菌群中的粪杆菌属(Faecalibaculum)、布劳特氏菌属(Blautia)和罗氏菌属(Roseburia)的丰度。研究结果表明,20%摄入量的小米就能有效调节小鼠肠道菌群,而过高摄入量(80%)的小米使小鼠血脂水平升高,降低了肠道菌群的多样性和均匀度以及有益菌的丰度,所以要理性看待杂粮的营养价值,避免过量摄入。     

灭活型副干酪乳杆菌L9常温酸奶调节肠道菌群缓解便秘作用研究

为评价灭活型副干酪乳杆菌L9常温酸奶润肠通便和调节肠道菌群的作用,招募便秘受试者61人,随机分为两组,分别饮用普通常温酸奶和含L9的常温酸奶28d,饮用结束后分析受试者便秘相关症状、粪便短链脂肪酸含量和肠道菌群的变化情况。结果显示:与常温酸奶组相比,灭活型副干酪乳杆菌L9常温酸奶组受试者排便次数显著增加(P<0.05),排便状况和粪便性状评分极显著降低(P<0.01);粪便中丁酸含量极显著增加(P<0.01),丙酸和总酸含量显著增加(P<0.05);并显著增加产短链脂肪酸的菌属,如Blautia、Ruminococcus＿2和＿hallii＿group。研究结果表明,与普通常温酸奶相比,灭活副干酪乳杆菌L9常温酸奶具有更好的调节肠道菌群缓解便秘的作用。本研究旨在为开发含有灭活副干酪乳杆菌L9的相关功能食品提供理论依据。     

菌群感应AHLs分子对小鼠肠道菌群多样性影响的分析

目的 探讨菌群感应信号分子N-酰基高丝氨酸内酯(N-acyl homoserine lactones,AHLs)对小鼠肠道微生物菌群构成的影响,为感染状态下肠道微生态的紊乱补充理论依据。方法 3-oxo-C10-HSL分子经腹腔注射小鼠后,于24 h分别在小鼠十二指肠及空回肠部位用拭子涂抹法取样,并通过Illumina Hiseq 2500高通量测序平台对样品16S rDNA测序,并进行微生物菌群分类构成及多样性分析。结果 在实验小鼠肠道内共检出22个细菌门,109个细菌属;对照组和3-oxo-C10-HSL处理组小鼠肠道不同部位菌群均以厚壁菌门(>50%)和变形菌门(>20%)为主,但两组在属水平菌群构成有明显差异,对照组优势菌属依次为葡萄球菌、埃希氏-志贺菌、乳球菌、假单胞菌、肠球菌,3-oxo-C10-HSL处理组优势菌属主要为肠球菌、埃希氏-志贺菌、葡萄球菌;多样性和丰度分析提示3-oxo-C10-HSL处理组肠道菌群多样性均有提高,大肠埃希菌属等主要优势菌丰度显著上升,而且空回肠部位的菌落丰度最高。结论 AHLs对小鼠肠道菌群构成影响较小,而对菌群内部某些特定类群结构变化影响较明显。     

水体铜对鲤肠道菌群结构及免疫力的影响

为了解水体重金属铜对鲤肠道菌群多样性、结构及免疫力的影响,以不同质量浓度的水体铜胁迫鲤56d,对鲤肠道菌群α多样性、β多样性、基于属水平的群落组成结构及肠道免疫调控因子和紧密连接蛋白的基因表达进行了分析.结果显示,0.14mg·L-1、0.28mg·L-1处理组与对照组相比,α多样性指数有显著性下降(P0.01),主成分分析(PCA)显示两处理组与对照组群落组成区分明显,优势菌群发生明显变化;同时,两处理组肠道免疫调控因子Il-1β,IL-8,TNF-α及信号分子NF-κB基因表达有显著增加(P0.01),肠道紧密连接蛋白Claudin-3,Claudin-c及免疫调控因子IL-10、信号分子TOR基因表达有显著下降(P0.01).结果表明:中、高质量浓度水体铜胁迫显著降低了鲤肠道菌群的多样性,改变了结构组成,对鲤肠道上皮免疫屏障造成了损伤.     

Gut microbiota composition correlates with diet and health in the elderly

Alterations in intestinal microbiota composition are associated with several chronic conditions, including obesity and inflammatory diseases. The microbiota of older people displays greater inter-individual variation than that of younger adults. Here we show that the faecal microbiota composition from 178 elderly subjects formed groups, correlating with residence location in the community, day-hospital, rehabilitation or in long-term residential care. However, clustering of subjects by diet separated them by the same residence location and microbiota groupings. The separation of microbiota composition significantly correlated with measures of frailty, co-morbidity, nutritional status, markers of inflammation and with metabolites in faecal water. The individual microbiota of people in long-stay care was significantly less diverse than that of community dwellers. Loss of community-associated microbiota correlated with increased frailty. Collectively, the data support a relationship between diet, microbiota and health status, and indicate a role for diet-driven microbiota alterations in varying rates of health decline upon ageing.     

Alterations in cecal microbiota of Jinhua piglets fostered by a Yorkshire sow

Gut microbiota health and diseases. Several play important roles in host factors, in particular antibiot- ics, affect the gut microbiota of pigs. Cross-fostering has been applied as a regular practice to equalize litter size, reduce pre-weaning mortality and increase body weight. However, the effect of cross-fostering on cecal microbiota is unclear. In this study, we fostered three Jinhua pigs to a Yorkshire sow. The fostered Jinhua piglets grew signifi- cantly faster than their biological siblings. To explore whether the cecal microbiota of piglets will alter during fostering, we characterized the cecal microbiota of allpiglets by examining the V3 hypervariable region ot 165 rDNA. We observed altered cecal microbiota in these piglets using the Illumina HiSeq 2000 platform, and this was accompanied with an increase in growth rate after fostering. The relative abundance of Bacteroidetes in the fostered Jinhua piglets was decreased compared with their biological siblings, although still higher in comparison with their new littermates. Beta-diversity analysis also showed that the cecal microbiota of the adopted Jinhua piglets differed from their biological siblings with a shift toward their step-siblings. Our data show that cecal microbiota of piglets were altered after cross-fostering while the growth rate increased.     

Tissue factor and PAR1 promote microbiota-induced intestinal vascular remodelling

The gut microbiota is a complex ecosystem that has coevolved with host physiology. Colonization of germ-free (GF) mice with a microbiota promotes increased vessel density in the small intestine, but little is known about the mechanisms involved. Tissue factor (TF) is the membrane receptor that initiates the extrinsic coagulation pathway, and it promotes developmental and tumour angiogenesis. Here we show that the gut microbiota promotes TF glycosylation associated with localization of TF on the cell surface, the activation of coagulation proteases, and phosphorylation of the TF cytoplasmic domain in the small intestine. Anti-TF treatment of colonized GF mice decreased microbiota-induced vascular remodelling and expression of the proangiogenic factor angiopoietin-1 (Ang-1) in the small intestine. Mice with a genetic deletion of the TF cytoplasmic domain or with hypomorphic TF (F3) alleles had a decreased intestinal vessel density. Coagulation proteases downstream of TF activate protease-activated receptor (PAR) signalling implicated in angiogenesis. Vessel density and phosphorylation of the cytoplasmic domain of TF were decreased in small intestine from PAR1-deficient (F2r(-/-)) but not PAR2-deficient (F2rl1(-/-)) mice, and inhibition of thrombin showed that thrombin-PAR1 signalling was upstream of TF phosphorylation. Thus, the microbiota-induced extravascular TF-PAR1 signalling loop is a novel pathway that may be modulated to influence vascular remodelling in the small intestine.     

ACE2 links amino acid malnutrition to microbial ecology and intestinal inflammation

Malnutrition affects up to one billion people in the world and is a major cause of mortality. In many cases, malnutrition is associated with diarrhoea and intestinal inflammation, further contributing to morbidity and death. The mechanisms by which unbalanced dietary nutrients affect intestinal homeostasis are largely unknown. Here we report that deficiency in murine angiotensin I converting enzyme (peptidyl-dipeptidase A) 2 (Ace2), which encodes a key regulatory enzyme of the renin-angiotensin system (RAS), results in highly increased susceptibility to intestinal inflammation induced by epithelial damage. The RAS is known to be involved in acute lung failure, cardiovascular functions and SARS infections. Mechanistically, ACE2 has a RAS-independent function, regulating intestinal amino acid homeostasis, expression of antimicrobial peptides, and the ecology of the gut microbiome. Transplantation of the altered microbiota from Ace2 mutant mice into germ-free wild-type hosts was able to transmit the increased propensity to develop severe colitis. ACE2-dependent changes in epithelial immunity and the gut microbiota can be directly regulated by the dietary amino acid tryptophan. Our results identify ACE2 as a key regulator of dietary amino acid homeostasis, innate immunity, gut microbial ecology, and transmissible susceptibility to colitis. These results provide a molecular explanation for how amino acid malnutrition can cause intestinal inflammation and diarrhoea.     

Commensal microbiota and myelin autoantigen cooperate to trigger autoimmune demyelination

Active multiple sclerosis lesions show inflammatory changes suggestive of a combined attack by autoreactive T and B lymphocytes against brain white matter. These pathogenic immune cells derive from progenitors that are normal, innocuous components of the healthy immune repertoire but become autoaggressive upon pathological activation. The stimuli triggering this autoimmune conversion have been commonly attributed to environmental factors, in particular microbial infection. However, using the relapsing-remitting mouse model of spontaneously developing experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis, here we show that the commensal gut flora-in the absence of pathogenic agents-is essential in triggering immune processes, leading to a relapsing-remitting autoimmune disease driven by myelin-specific CD4(+) T cells. We show further that recruitment and activation of autoantibody-producing B cells from the endogenous immune repertoire depends on availability of the target autoantigen, myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG), and commensal microbiota. Our observations identify a sequence of events triggering organ-specific autoimmune disease and these processes may offer novel therapeutic targets.