• IMMUNE NETWORK
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• 제21권2호
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• pp.15.1-15.10
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• 2021

Abnormal inflammatory responses are closely associated with intestinal microbial dysbiosis. Oral administration of Qmatrix-diabetes-mellitus complex (QDMC), an Aloe gel-based formula, has been reported to improve inflammation in type 2 diabetic mice; however, the role of the gut microbiota in ameliorating efficacy of QDMC remains unclear. We investigated the effect of QDMC on the gut microbiota in a type 2 diabetic aged mouse model that was administered a high-fat diet. Proinflammatory (TNF-α and IL-6) and anti-inflammatory (IL-4 and IL-10) cytokine levels in the fat were normalized via oral administration of QDMC, and relative abundances of Bacteroides, Butyricimonas, Ruminococcus, and Mucispirillum were simultaneously significantly increased. The abundance of these bacteria was correlated to the expression levels of cytokines. Our findings suggest that the immunomodulatory activity of QDMC is partly mediated by the altered gut microbiota composition.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• 제28권11호
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• pp.1883-1895
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• 2018

Alcohol dependence is a global public health problem, yet the mechanisms of alcohol dependence are incompletely understood. The traditional view has been that ethanol alters various neurotransmitters and their receptors in the brain and causes the addiction. However, an increasing amount of experimental evidence suggests that gut microbiota also influence brain functions via gut-to-brain interactions, and may therefore induce the development of alcohol use disorders. In this study, a rat model of alcohol dependence and withdrawal was employed, the gut microbiota composition was analyzed by high-throughput 16S rRNA gene sequencing, and the metagenome function was predicted by PICRUSt software. The results suggested that chronic alcohol consumption did not significantly alter the diversity and richness of gut microbiota in the jejunum and colon, but rather markedly changed the microbiota composition structure in the colon. The phyla Bacteroidetes and eight genera including Bacteroidales S24-7, Ruminococcaceae, Parabacteroides, Butyricimonas, et al were drastically increased, however the genus Lactobacillus and gauvreauii in the colon were significantly decreased in the alcohol dependence group compared with the withdrawal and control groups. The microbial functional prediction analysis revealed that the proportions of amino acid metabolism, polyketide sugar unit biosynthesis and peroxisome were significantly increased in the AD group. This study demonstrated that chronic alcohol consumption has a dramatic effect on the microbiota composition structure in the colon but few effects on the jejunum. Inducement of colonic microbiota dysbiosis due to alcohol abuse seems to be a factor of alcohol dependence, which suggests that modulating colonic microbiota composition might be a potentially new target for treating alcohol addiction.

• Journal of Applied Biological Chemistry
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• 제64권1호
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• pp.103-103
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• 2021

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• 제47권5호
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• pp.683-683
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• 2023

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• 제62권3호
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• pp.351-364
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• 2024

The gut microbiome plays an essential role in host immune responses, including allergic reactions. However, commensal gut microbiota is extremely sensitive to antibiotics and excessive usage can cause microbial dysbiosis. Herein, we investigated how changes in the gut microbiome induced by ampicillin affected the production of IgG1 and IgG2a antibodies in mice subsequently exposed to Anisakis pegreffii antigens. Ampicillin treatment caused a notable change in the gut microbiome as shown by changes in both alpha and beta diversity indexes. In a 1-dimensional immunoblot using Anisakis-specific anti-mouse IgG1, a 56-kDa band corresponding to an unnamed Anisakis protein was detected using mass spectrometry analysis only in ampicillin-treated mice. In the Anisakis-specific anti-mouse IgG2a-probed immunoblot, a 70-kDa band corresponding to heat shock protein 70 (HSP70) was only detected in ampicillin-treated and Anisakis-immunized mice. A 2-dimensional immunoblot against Anisakis extract with immunized mouse sera demonstrated altered spot patterns in both groups. Our results showed that ampicillin treatment altered the gut microbiome composition in mice, changing the immunization response to antigens from A. pegreffii. This research could serve as a basis for developing vaccines or allergy immunotherapies against parasitic infections.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• 제27권12호
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• pp.2228-2236
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• 2017

During menopausal transition, the imbalance of estrogen causes body weight gain. Although gut microbiome dysbiosis has been reported in postmenopausal obesity, it is not clear whether there is any difference in the microbiome profile between dietary-induced obesity and postmenopausal obesity. Therefore, in this study, we analyzed intestinal samples from ovariectomized mice and compared them with those of mice with high-fat diet-induced obesity. To further evaluate the presence of menopause-specific bacteria-gene interactions, we also analyzed the liver transcriptome. Investigation of the 16S rRNA V3-V4 region amplicon sequence profile revealed that menopausal obesity and dietary obesity resulted in similar gut microbiome structures. However, Bifidobacterium animalis was exclusively observed in the ovariectomized mice, which indicated that menopausal obesity resulted in a different intestinal microbiome than dietary obesity. Additionally, several bacterial taxa (Dorea species, Akkermansia muciniphila, and Desulfovibrio species) were found when the ovariectomized mice were treated with a high-fat diet. A significant correlation between the above-mentioned menopause-specific bacteria and the genes for female hormone metabolism was also observed, suggesting the possibility of bacteria-gene interactions in menopausal obesity. Our findings revealed the characteristics of the intestinal microbiome in menopausal obesity in the mouse model, which is very similar to the dietary obesity microbiome but having its own diagnostic bacteria.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• 제66권2호
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• pp.425-437
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• 2024

Exercise plays an important role in regulating energy homeostasis, which affects the diversity of the intestinal microbial community in humans and animals. To the best of the authors' knowledge, few studies have reported the associations between horse gut microbiota along with their predicted metabolic activities and the athletic ability of Jeju horses and Thoroughbreds living in Korea. This study was conducted to investigate the association between the gut microbiota and athletic performance in horses. This study sequenced the V3 and V4 hypervariable regions of the partial 16S rRNA genes obtained from racehorse fecal samples and compared the fecal microbiota between high- and low-performance Jeju horses and Thoroughbreds. Forty-nine fecal samples were divided into four groups: high-performance Jeju horses (HJ, n = 13), low-performance Jeju horses (LJ, n = 17), high-performance Thoroughbreds (HT, n = 9), and low-performance Thoroughbreds (LT, n = 10). The high-performance horse groups had a higher diversity of the bacterial community than the low-performance horse groups. Two common functional metabolic activities of the hindgut microbiota (i.e., tryptophan and succinate syntheses) were observed between the low-performance horse groups, indicating dysbiosis of gut microbiota and fatigue from exercise. On the other hand, high-performance horse groups showed enriched production of polyamines, butyrate, and vitamin K. The racing performance may be associated with the composition of the intestinal microbiota of Jeju horses and Thoroughbreds in Korea.

• Allergy, Asthma & Immunology Research
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• 제10권6호
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• pp.575-590
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• 2018

The prevalence of allergic disorders has dramatically increased over the past decade, particularly in developed countries. Apart from gastrointestinal disorders, neoplasia, genital and dermatological diseases etc., dysregulation of gut microbiota (dysbiosis) has also been found to be associated with increased risk of allergies. Probiotics are increasingly being employed to correct dysbiosis and, in turn, to modulate allergic diseases. However, several factors like strain variations and effector metabolites or component of them in a bacterial species can affect the efficacy of those as probiotics. On the other hand, host variations like geographical locations, food habits etc. could also affect the expected results from probiotic usage. Thus, there is a glaring deficiency in our approach to establish probiotics as an irrefutable treatment avenue for suitable disorders. In this review, we explicate on the reported probiotics and their effects on certain allergic diseases like atopic dermatitis, food allergy and asthma to establish their utility. We propose possible measures like elucidation of effector molecules and functional mechanisms of probiotics towards establishing probiotics for therapeutic use. Certain probiotics studies have led to very alarming outcomes which could have been precluded, had effective guidelines been in place. Thus, we also propose ways to secure the safety of probiotics. Overall, our efforts tend to propose necessary discovery and quality assurance guidelines for developing probiotics as potential immunomodulatory 'Pharmabiotics.'

• 생명과학회지
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• 제29권6호
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• pp.747-753
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• 2019

인지기능 저하는 장 단기 기억 및 주의력 소실과 우울증, 불안증의 증가를 특징으로 한다. 또한, 인지기능 저하는 알츠하이머, 파킨슨병과 같은 다양한 퇴행성 뇌질환과 연관되어 있다. 경제적 부담, 안전 위협을 포함하는 인지기능 저하와 관련된 사회적 문제는 고령화가 진행됨에 따라 증가하고 있다. 이러한 문제를 해결하기 위해 전 세계적으로 많은 연구가 수행되고 있다. 일반적으로 인지기능 저하를 유발할 가능성이 있는 원인으로는 노화에 따른 대사 및 호르몬 불균형, 감염, 약물 오남용, 신경세포 손상 등이 알려져 있지만 다양한 요인이 관련되어 있으므로 원인 규명이 어려운 한계점 때문에 뚜렷한 치료전략 수립이 어려운 실정이다. 최근의 연구에 따르면 퇴행성 뇌질환 발생의 원인과 이에 대한 치료전략 수립에 있어서 장내미생물의 역할이 중요하게 제시되고 있다. 특히, 알츠하이머병과 파킨슨병에서 장내미생물 조성의 변화 및 이들에 의한 대사산물에 따른 분자생물학적, 신경행동학적 증상의 변화가 밝혀졌다. 알츠하이머병 동물모델에서 장내미생물의 변화는 NMDA 수용체와 글루탐산의 변화를 통해 기억능력 소실을 야기하였다. 반면, 알츠하이머병 동물모델에 프로바이오틱스를 투여하였을 때, 비정상적인 신경학적 행동이 유의적으로 감소하였다. 파킨슨병은 장내미생물 군집의 변화와 직접적인 연관성을 보였으며 이는 이차적 증상인 변비 발생에도 영향을 미치는 것으로 나타났다. 파킨슨병 동물모델에 투여한 프로바이오틱스는 단쇄지방산 중 하나인 뷰티르산 증가를 통한 신경세포 보호효과를 나타내었다. 또한, 알츠하이머병과 파킨슨병에서 뇌-혈관장벽의 기능이상이 밝혀졌으며, 뇌-혈관장벽 변화는 장내미생물 불균형에 의한 전신성 염증에 따른 미세소관의 파괴 및 투과성 증가와 연관된 것으로 나타났다. 더불어 장내미생물 대사과정에서 생성된 대사산물은 퇴행성 뇌질환의 발생과 치료에 영향을 미친다. 본 논문에서는 인지기능 저하의 진행을 지연시킴으로써 심화를 방지할 수 있는 효과적인 접근법을 제시하기 위하여 인지기능 저하와 장내미생물의 연관성을 심층적으로 고찰하여 치료적 대안으로 제시하고자 한다.

• 생명과학회지
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• 제32권5호
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• pp.391-410
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• 2022

인간 미생물 균총은 장, 구강, 피부와 같이 체내외 다양한 부위에 존재하는 박테리아, 균류, 바이러스 등을 포함하는 미생물 집단이다. 16s ribosomal RNA에 대한 대사체 분석 및 차세대 염기서열 분석기술의 개발과 함께, 살아있는 유기체 내에 존재하는 미생물 균총에 대한 많은 연구가 진행되었다. 이에 따라, 미생물 균총이 숙주의 대사 및 면역과정과 복잡하게 연관되어 있음이 확인되었다. 공생균(commensal microbiota)이라 불리는 미생물 균총의 특정 박테리아가 필수 영양소를 생성하거나 다른 병원성 미생물로부터 숙주를 보호하여 긍정적으로 영향을 미치고 있는 반면, 비정상적인 미생물 균총의 조성을 의미하는 미생물 균총의 불균형(dysbiosis)에 의해 체내 항상성 유지를 방해하여 다양한 종류의 질병을 발생시키기도 한다. 최근, 미생물 균총 중에서도 구강과 장내 존재하는 박테리아가 위장관암의 발암과정과 항암제의 치료효과에 상당한 영향을 미치고 있음이 여러 논문을 통해 보고되고 있다. 미생물 균총-암-면역계 사이의 복잡한 연관성과 미생물 균총 기반 발암 메커니즘에 대한 규명은 암에 대한 이해와 새로운 항암제 개발에 중요한 단서를 제공할 것으로 기대된다. 본 리뷰는 미생물 균총의 박테리아가 위장관암과 항암제에 어떤 영향을 미치고 있는지에 대해 초점을 맞추고 있는 논문들을 요약하고 있으며, 나아가 기존 항암제의 치료효과를 개선하기 위해 복합제로써 미생물 균총의 잠재력과 도전과제에 대해 논의한다.