• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.31 no.6
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• pp.765-774
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• 2021

Although research on the osteal signaling pathway has progressed, understanding of gut microbial-dependent signaling pathways for metabolic and immune bone homeostasis remains elusive. In recent years, the study of gut microbiota has shed light on our understanding of bone homeostasis. Here, we review microbiota-mediated gut-bone crosstalk via bone morphogenetic protein/SMADs, Wnt and OPG/receptor activator of nuclear factor-kappa B ligand signaling pathways in direct (translocation) and indirect (metabolite) manners. The mechanisms underlying gut microbiota involvement in these signaling pathways are relevant in immune responses, secretion of hormones, fate of osteoblasts and osteoclasts and absorption of calcium. Collectively, we propose a signaling network for maintaining a dynamic homeostasis between the skeletal system and the gut ecosystem. Additionally, the role of gut microbial improvement by dietary intervention in osteal signaling pathways has also been elucidated. This review provides unique resources from the gut microbial perspective for the discovery of new strategies for further improving treatment of bone diseases by increasing the abundance of targeted gut microbiota.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.47 no.2
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• pp.255-264
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• 2023

Background: Red ginseng (RG) alleviates psychiatric disorders. Fermented red ginseng (fRG) alleviates stress-induced gut inflammation. Gut dysbiosis causes psychiatric disorders with gut inflammation. To understand the gut microbiota-mediated action mechanism of RG and fRG against anxiety/depression (AD), we investigated the effects of RG, fRG, ginsenoside Rd, and 20(S)-β-D-glucopyranosyl protopanaxadiol (CK) on gut microbiota dysbiosis-induced AD and colitis in mice. Methods: Mice with AD and colitis were prepared by exposing to immobilization stress (IS) or transplanting the feces of patients with ulcerative colitis and depression (UCDF). AD-like behaviors were measured in the elevated plus maze, light/dark transition, forced swimming, and tail suspension tests. Results: Oral gavage of UCDF increased AD-like behaviors and induced neuroinflammation, gastrointestinal inflammation, and gut microbiota fluctuation in mice. Oral administration of fRG or RG treatment reduced UCDF-induced AD-like behaviors, hippocampal and hypothalamic IL-6 expression, and blood corticosterone level, whereas UCDF-suppressed hippocampal BDNF⁺NeuN⁺ cell population and dopamine and hypothalamic serotonin levels increased. Furthermore, their treatments suppressed UCDF-induced colonic inflammation and partially restored UCDF-induced gut microbiota fluctuation. Oral administration of fRG, RG, Rd, or CK also decreased IS-induced AD-like behaviors, blood IL-6 and corticosterone and colonic IL-6 and TNF-α levels, and gut dysbiosis, while IS-suppressed hypothalamic dopamine and serotonin levels increased. Conclusion: Oral gavage of UCDF caused AD, neuroinflammation, and gastrointestinal inflammation in mice. fRG mitigated AD and colitis in UCDF-exposed mice by the regulation of the microbiota-gut-brain axis and IS-exposed mice by the regulation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis.

• Journal of Korean Medicine for Obesity Research
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.1-14
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• 2009

Complex microbial communities play an important role in the human health and co-evolved with human in the form of symbiosis. Many literatures provide new evidences that the increased prevalence of obesity cannot be attributed solely to changes in the human genome, nutritional habits, or reduction of physical activity in our daily lives. The intestinal flora was recently proposed as an environmental factor responsible for the control of body weight and energy metabolism. A number of studies suggest that the modulation of gut microbiota affects host metabolism and has an impact on energy storage and demonstrated a role for the gut microbiota in weight gain, fat increase, and insulin resistance. Variations in microbiota composition are found in obese humans and mice and the microbiota from an obese mouse confers an obese phenotype when transferred to an axenic mouse. As well, the gut microbial flora plays a role in converting nutrients into calories. Specific strategies for modifying gut microbiota may be a useful means to treat or prevent obesity. Dietary modulations of gut microbiota with a view to increasing bifidobacteria have demonstrated to reduce endotoxemia and improve metabolic diseases such as obesity. The fermentation of medicinal herbs is intended to exert a favorable influence on digestability, bioavailability and pharmacological activity of herbal extract. Therefore we also expect that the fermented herbal extracts may open up a new area to treat obesity through modulating gut microbiota.

• The Journal of Pediatrics of Korean Medicine
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• v.34 no.4
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• pp.43-58
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• 2020

Objectives The purpose of this study is to analyze the effect of various herbal medicin on gut microbiota. Methods Electronic searches were performed using NDSL, OASIS, KISS, KMBASE, K-portal, Pub med, Cochrane, CNKI. Results we analyzed 25 experimental studies on the effect of herbal medicine on microbiota. Diabetes, obesity, inflammatory bowel disease have been frequently studied in micobiota-related disease. The most common experimental animal model used in the studies C57BL/7 mouse. Among the studies wherein single herbal medication were used, Gynostemma pentaphyllum was most commonly studies, and different herbal medications were used in the studies wherein complex herbal medications were studied. Next generation sequencing was performed using Illumina MiSeq system, and gut microbiota analysis was performed using QIIME and Ribosomal Database Project (RDP). In most studies, the herbal medicines exerted regulatory effects on gut microbiota and improved the symptoms of the experimental groups. Conclusions This review provides basic data on the correlation between korean medicine and gut microbiota, as well as information for the development of korean medicine.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.34 no.6
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• pp.1214-1221
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• 2024

The accumulating evidence substantiates the indispensable role of gut microbiota in modulating the pathogenesis of type 2 diabetes. Uncovering the intricacies of the mechanism is imperative in aiding disease control efforts. Revealing key bacterial species, their metabolites and/or metabolic pathways from the vast array of gut microorganisms can significantly contribute to precise treatment of the disease. With a high prevalence of type 2 diabetes in Inner Mongolia, China, we recruited volunteers from among the Mongolian population to investigate the relationship between gut microbiota and the disease. Fecal samples were collected from the Volunteers of Mongolia with Type 2 Diabetes group and a Control group, and detected by metagenomic analysis and untargeted metabolomics analysis. The findings suggest that Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes phyla are the predominant gut microorganisms that exert significant influence on the pathogenesis of type 2 diabetes in the Mongolian population. In the disease group, despite an increase in the quantity of most gut microbial metabolic enzymes, there was a concomitant weakening of gut metabolic function, suggesting that the gut microbiota may be in a compensatory state during the disease stage. β-Tocotrienol may serve as a pivotal gut metabolite produced by gut microorganisms and a potential biomarker for type 2 diabetes. The metabolic biosynthesis pathways of ubiquinone and other terpenoid quinones could be the crucial mechanism through which the gut microbiota regulates type 2 diabetes. Additionally, certain Clostridium gut species may play a pivotal role in the progression of the disease.

• BMB Reports
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• v.49 no.10
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• pp.536-541
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• 2016

The prevalence of obesity and type 2 diabetes, two closely linked metabolic disorders, is increasing worldwide. Over the past decade, the connection between these disorders and the microbiota of the gut has become a major focus of biomedical research, with recent studies demonstrating the fundamental role of intestinal microbiota in the regulation and pathogenesis of metabolic disorders. Because of the complexity of the microbiota community, however, the underlying molecular mechanisms by which the gut microbiota is associated with metabolic disorders remain poorly understood. In this review, we summarize recent studies that investigate the role of the microbiota in both human subjects and animal models of disease and discuss relevant therapeutic targets for future research.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.31 no.5
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• pp.747-755
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• 2021

The effects of the gut microbiome on both allergy and autoimmunity in dermatological diseases have been indicated in several recent studies. Chronic spontaneous urticaria (CSU) is a disease involving allergy and autoimmunity, and there is no report detailing the role of microbiota alterations in its development. This study was performed to identify the fecal microbial composition of CSU patients and investigate the different compositions and potential genetic functions on the fecal microbiota between CSU patients and normal controls. The gut microbiota of CSU patients and healthy individuals were obtained by 16s rRNA massive sequencing. Gut microbiota diversity and composition were compared, and bioinformatics analysis of the differences was performed. The gut microbiota composition results showed that Firmicutes, Bacteroidetes, Proteobacteria, and Verrucomicrobia were dominant microbiota in CSU patients. The differential analysis showed that relative abundance of the Proteobacteria (p = 0.03), Bacilli (p = 0.04), Enterobacterales (p = 0.03), Enterobacteriaceae (p = 0.03) was significantly increased in CSU patients. In contrast, the relative abundance of Megamonas, Megasphaera, and Dialister (all p < 0.05) in these patients significantly decreased compared with healthy controls. The different microbiological compositions impacted normal gastrointestinal functions based on function prediction, resulting in abnormal pathways, including transport and metabolism. We found CSU patients exhibited gut microbiota dysbiosis compared with healthy controls. Our results indicated CSU is associated with gut microbiota dysbiosis and pointed out that the bacterial taxa increased in CSU patients, which might be involved in the pathogenesis of CSU. These results provided clues for future microbial-based therapies on CSU.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.405-418
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• 2022

Simotang oral liquid (SMT) is a traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) consisting of four natural plants and is used to alleviate gastrointestinal side effects after chemotherapy and functional dyspepsia (FD). However, the mechanism by which SMT helps cure these gastrointestinal diseases is still unknown. Here, we discovered that SMT could alleviate gastrointestinal side effects after chemotherapy by altering gut microbiota. C57BL/6J mice were treated with cisplatin (DDP) and SMT, and biological samples were collected. Pathological changes in the small intestine were observed, and the intestinal injury score was assessed. The expression levels of the inflammatory factors IL-1β and IL-6 and the adhesive factors Occludin and ZO-1 in mouse blood or small intestine tissue were also detected. Moreover, the gut microbiota was analyzed by high-throughput sequencing of 16S rRNA amplicons. SMT was found to effectively reduce gastrointestinal mucositis after DDP injection, which lowered inflammation and tightened the intestinal epithelial cells. Gut microbiota analysis showed that the abundance of the anti-inflammatory microbiota was downregulated and that the inflammatory microbiota was upregulated in DDP-treated mice. SMT upregulated anti-inflammatory and anticancer microbiota abundance, while the inflammatory microbiota was downregulated. An antibiotic cocktail (ABX) was also used to delete mice gut microbiota to test the importance of gut microbiota, and we found that SMT could not alleviate gastrointestinal mucositis after DDP injection, showing that gut microbiota might be an important mediator of SMT treatment. Our study provides evidence that SMT might moderate gastrointestinal mucositis after chemotherapy by altering gut microbiota.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.34 no.6
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• pp.1314-1321
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• 2024

Branched-chain hydroxy acids (BCHAs), produced by lactic acid bacteria, have recently been suggested as bioactive compounds contributing to the systemic metabolism and modulation of the gut microbiome. However, the relationship between BCHAs and gut microbiome remains unclear. In this study, we investigated the effects of BCHAs on the growth of seven different families in the gut microbiota. Based on in vitro screening, both 2-hydroxyisovaleric acid (HIVA) and 2-hydroxyisocaproic acid (HICA) stimulated the growth of Lactobacillaceae and Bifidobacteriaceae, with HIVA showing a significant growth promotion. Additionally, we observed not only the growth promotion of probiotic Lactobacillaceae strains but also growth inhibition of pathogenic B. fragilis in a dose-dependent manner. The production of HIVA and HICA varied depending on the family of the gut microbiota and was relatively high in case of Lactobacillaceae and Lachnosporaceae. Furthermore, HIVA and HICA production by each strain positively correlated with their growth variation. These results demonstrated gut microbiota-derived BCHAs as active metabolites that have bacterial growth modulatory effects. We suggest that BCHAs can be utilized as active metabolites, potentially contributing to the treatment of diseases associated with gut dysbiosis.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.567-571
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• 2016

We investigated the increased risk of Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) caused by the combined use of antibiotics and an immunosuppressive drug in a mouse model. Our data showed that an approximate return to pretreatment conditions of gut microbiota occurred within days after cessation of the antibiotic treatment, whereas the recovery of gut microbiota was delayed with the combined treatment of antibiotics and dexamethasone, leading to an increased severity of CDI. An alteration of gut microbiota is a key player in CDI. Therefore, our data implied that immunosuppressive drugs can increase the risk of CDI through the delayed recovery of altered gut microbiota.