Project description:Several studies have established a link between high-salt diet, inflammation, and hypertension. Vitamin D supplementation has shown anti-inflammatory effects in many diseases; gut microbiota is also associated with a wide variety of cardiovascular diseases, but potential role of vitamin D and gut microbiota in high-salt diet-induced hypertension remains unclear. Therefore, we used rats with hypertension induced by a high-salt diet as the research object and analyzed the transcriptome of their tissues (kidney and colon) and gut microbiome to conduct an overall analysis of the gut–kidney axis. We aimed to confirm the effects of high salt and calcitriol on the gut–kidney immune system and the composition of the intestinal flora. We demonstrate that consumption of a high-salt diet results in hypertension and inflammation in the colon and kidney and alteration of gut microbiota composition and function. High-salt diet-induced hypertension was found to be associated with seven microbial taxa and mainly associated with reduced production of the protective short-chain fatty acid butyrate. Calcitriol can reduce colon and kidney inflammation, and there are gene expression changes consistent with restored intestinal barrier function. The protective effect of calcitriol may be mediated indirectly by immunological properties. Additionally, the molecular pathways of the gut microbiota-mediated BP regulation may be related to circadian rhythm signals, which needs to be further investigated. An innovative association analysis of the microbiota may be a key strategy to understanding the association between gene patterns and host.
Project description:Eriocitrin, found in lemon fruit, has shown a wide range of biological properties. Herein, to evaluate the intestinal metabolic profile of eriocitrin in colon, the flavonoids in mice colon contents were identified by ultra performance liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization-tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-ESI-MS/MS), and a total of 136 flavonoids were found, including eriocitrin and its six metabolites (eriodictyol, homoeriodictyol, hesperetin, eriodictyol-3'-O-glucoside, hesperetin-7-O-glucoside and eriodictyol-7-O-(6''-O-galloyl) glucoside). Mice colon contents were used for 16S rDNA gene sequencing and gas chromatography-mass (GC-MS). Resultu showed that eriocitrin significantly alters the beta diversity of the gut microbiota, the probiotics such as Lachnospiraceae_UCG_006 were significantly enriched, and the production of butyrate, valerate and hexanoate in the colon pool of short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) were significant increased. The spearman's association analysis performed some intestinal bacteria may be involved in the metabolism of eriocitrin. Collectively, our results preliminarily suggesting the metabolism of eriocitrin in the gut, demonstrate alterations of eriocitrin on gut microbiota, which warrants further investigation to determine its potential use in food and biomedical applications.
Project description:We have previously demonstrated that the gut microbiota can play a role in the pathogenesis of conditions associated with exposure to environmental pollutants. It is well accepted that diets high in fermentable fibers such as inulin can beneficially modulate the gut microbiota and lessen the severity of pro-inflammatory diseases. Therefore, we aimed to test the hypothesis that hyperlipidemic mice fed a diet enriched with inulin would be protected from the pro-inflammatory toxic effects of PCB 126.
Project description:Gut microbiota participates in diverse metabolic and homeostatic functions related to health and well-being. Individual variation in its composition depends on many factors including dietary factors. We profiled enzymatic activity of fecal microbiota in 63 healthy adult individuals using metaproteomics, and identified Bacteroides and Prevotella –derived microbial CAZy (carbohydrate-active) enzymes involved in glycan foraging. One particular profile with many Bacteroides-derived CAZy was identified in one-third of subjects (n=20), and it associated with high abundancy of Bacteroides in most subjects. In other subjects (n=8) with dietary parameters similar to former, microbiota showed intense expression of Prevotella-derived CAZy including exo−beta−(1,4)−xylanase, xylan-1,4−beta−xylosidase, alpha−L−arabinofuranosidase and several other CAZy belonging to glycosyl hydrolase families involved in digestion of complex plant-derived polysaccharides. This associated invariably with robust representation of Prevotella in gut microbiota, while subjects with intermediate representation of Prevotella showed no CAZy profile. Identification of Bacteroides- and Prevotella-derived CAZy in microbiota proteome and their association with robust differences in microbiota composition, the latter with exceptionally high Prevotella abundancy in the gut, are in evidence of individual variation in metabolic adaptation of gut microbiota with an impact on colonizing competence.
Project description:An experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of dietary inclusion of rye, a model ingredient to increase gut viscosity, between 14 and 28 days of age on immune competence related parameters and performance of broiler. A total number of 960 one-day-old male Ross 308 chicks were weighed and randomly allocated to 24 pens (40 birds per pen), and the birds in every 8 replicate pens were assigned to one of three experimental diets including graded levels, 0%, 5%, and 10% of rye. Tested immune competence related parameters were composition of the intestinal microbiota, genes expression in gut tissue, and gut morphology. The inclusion of 5% or 10% rye in the diet (d14-28) resulted in decreased performance and litter quality, but in increased villus height and crypt depth in the small intestine (jejunum) of the broilers. Relative bursa and spleen weights were not affected by dietary inclusion of rye. In the jejunum, no effects on number and size of goblet cells, and only trends on microbiota composition in the digesta were observed. Dietary inclusion of rye affected expression of genes involved in cell cycle processes of the jejunal enterocyte cells, thereby influencing cell growth, cell differentiation and cell survival, which in turn were consistent with the observed differences in the morphology of the gut wall. In addition, providing rye-rich diets to broilers affected the complement and coagulation pathways, which are parts of the innate immune system. These pathways are involved in eradicating invasive pathogens. Overall, it can be concluded that inclusion of 5% or 10% rye to the grower diet of broilers had limited effects on performance. Ileal gut morphology, microbiota composition of jejunal digesta, and gene expression profiles of jejunal tissue, however, were affected by dietary rye inclusion level, indicating that rye supplementation to broiler diets might affect immune competence of the birds.