Fusobacteria alterations are associated with colorectal cancer liver metastasis and a poor prognosis.

Liver metastasis is a major cause of mortality in patients with advanced stages of colorectal cancer (CRC). The gut microbiota has been demonstrated to influence the progression of liver diseases, potentially providing novel perspectives for diagnosis, treatment and research. However, the gut microbial characteristics in CRC with liver metastasis (LM) and with no liver metastasis (NLM) have not yet been fully established. In the present study, high-throughput 16S RNA sequencing technology was employed, in order to examine the gut microbial richness and composition in patients with CRC with LM or NLM. A discovery cohort (cohort 2; LM=18; NLM=36) and a validation cohort (cohort 3; LM=13; NLM=41) were established using fresh feces. In addition, primary carcinoma tissue samples were also analyzed (LM=8 and NLM=10) as a supplementary discovery cohort (cohort 1). The findings of the present study indicated that the intestinal microbiota richness and diversity were increased in the LM group as compared to the NLM group. A significant difference was observed in species composition between the LM and NLM group. In the two discovery cohorts with two different samples, the dominant phyla were consistent, but varied at lower taxonomic levels. Phylum Fusobacteria presented consistent and significant enrichment in LM group in both discovery cohorts. Furthermore, with the application of a random forest model and receiver operator characteristic curve analysis, Fusobacteria was identified as a potential biomarker for LM. Moreover, Fusobacteria was also a poor prognosis factor for survival. Importantly, the findings were reconfirmed in the validation cohort. On the whole, the findings of the present study demonstrated that CRC with LM and NLM exhibit distinct gut microbiota characteristics. Fusobacteria detection thus has potential for use in predicting LM and a poor prognosis of patients with CRC.

Ginkgo biloba extract protects against depression-like behavior in mice through regulating gut microbial bile acid metabolism.

Depression is a mental disorder with high morbidity, disability and relapse rates. Ginkgo biloba extract (GBE), a traditional Chinese medicine, has a long history of clinical application in the treatment of cerebral and mental disorders, but the key mechanism remains incompletely understood. Here we showed that GEB exerted anti-depressant effect in mice through regulating gut microbial metabolism. GBE protected against unpredictable mild stress (UMS)-induced despair, anxiety-like and social avoidance behavior in mice without sufficient brain distribution. Fecal microbiome transplantation transmitted, while antibiotic cocktail abrogated the protective effect of GBE. Spatiotemporal bacterial profiling and metabolomics assay revealed a potential involvement of Parasutterella excrementihominis and the bile acid metabolite ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA) in the effect of GBE. UDCA administration induced depression-like behavior in mice. Together, these findings suggest that GBE acts on gut microbiome-modulated bile acid metabolism to alleviate stress-induced depression.

Associations of Home-Based Screen Time and Its' Changes With Follow-up Body Mass Index in Chinese Preschool-Aged Children.

This study aimed to explore the associations of screen time (ST) and its' changes with follow-up body mass index (BMI) in preschool children. Parents of 805 preschoolers participated in our study at baseline and were followed up after 1 year in China. Linear regression models were used to analyze the dynamic relationship between ST and BMI in preschool children. A total of 662 preschoolers, including 342 boys (51.7%) and 320 girls (48.3%) were followed up. The changes in ST (from the initial ≤1 h/day to >1 h/day at follow-up vs keep ≤1 h/d, ß(SE) = 0.21(0.09), P = .016) and follow-up ST of preschool children (>1 h/d vs ≤1 h/d, ß(SE) = 0.17(0.07), P = .013) were significantly associated with an increase in the preschoolers' z-scored BMI at follow-up after adjusting for potential confounding factors. We concluded that the unfavorable change in ST was associated with increased BMI in preschool children.

Bacteroides species differentially modulate depression-like behavior via gut-brain metabolic signaling.

Gut microbiome disturbances have been widely implicated in major depressive disorder (MDD), although the identity of causal microbial species and the underlying mechanisms are yet to be fully elucidated. Here we show that Bacteroides species enriched in the gut microbiome from MDD patients differentially impact the susceptibility to depressive behaviors. Transplantation of fecal microbiome from MDD patients into antibiotic-treated mice induced anxiety and despair-like behavior and impaired hippocampal neurogenesis. Colonization of Bacteroides fragilis, Bacteroides uniformis, and, to a lesser extent, Bacteroides caccae, but not Bacteroides ovatus, recapitulated the negative effects of MDD microbiome on behavior and neurogenesis. The varying impacts of Bacteroides species were partially explained by differential alternations of tryptophan pathway metabolites and neurotransmitters along the gut-brain axis. Notably, an intensified depletion of cerebral serotonin concurred with the enhanced susceptibility to depression. Together, these findings identify select Bacteroidetes species that contribute to depression susceptibility in mice by metabolic regulation along the gut-brain axis.

The composition and functional profile of the microbial communities in human gastric cancer tissues and adjacent normal tissues.

(.) is known to be a major risk factor for the development of gastric cancer. In recent years, increasing attention is being paid to the role of non-. (NHPHs) in this disease and the role of microorganisms in local tumor microenvironment. In this study, we aimed to compare the microbial community composition and the predicted functional profile in paired cancer and adjacent normal tissues of gastric cancer patients. Cancer tissues and adjacent normal tissues were collected from 10 patients with gastric cancer under endoscopy, and genomic DNA was extracted. The V3-V4 region of the 16S rRNA gene was amplified by PCR and paired-end sequencing was performed on the Illumina MiSeq System. The data was analyzed using QIIME 2 software. The results showed that microbial richness and diversity as well as genetic diversity are significantly lower in cancer tissues compared with adjacent normal tissues. At the phylum level, the dominant taxa are , , , and in both groups. At the genus level, some taxa, such as and, are significantly enriched in cancer tissues, while other taxa, such as , are enriched in adjacent normal tissues. Moreover, those taxa enriched in cancer tissues are associated with the synthesis and degradation of ketone bodies. In conclusion, there is a significant difference in the composition of the mucosa-related microbial communities between cancer tissues and adjacent normal tissues in patients with gastric cancer.

Tumor-Associated Microbiota in Proximal and Distal Colorectal Cancer and Their Relationships With Clinical Outcomes.

The proximal and distal subsites of colorectal cancer (CRC) have distinct differences in their embryonic origin, epidemiology, and prognosis. Therefore, they are not considered as the same disease. However, the possible difference in microbial characterization of the two subsites of CRC is still unclear. In this study, we explored tumor microbiota diversity and composition difference in patients with proximal (N = 187) and distal CRCs (N = 142). This was carried out on cancer tissues and adjacent tissues using bacterial 16S rRNA sequencing. The Kaplan-Meier method was used to analyze the correlation between differential flora and overall survival rate of the patients. It was found that there were significant differences in tumor microbial characteristics between the proximal and distal CRC tissues. The microbiota communities were distinctly richer in the proximal colon tumor tissues than in the distal CRC tissues. Microbial diversity and structure were relatively constant in the paracancerous normal tissues of the proximal and distal colorectum. Generally, microbial communities of CRC tumor tissues were composed of Proteobacteria, Firmicutes, Actinobacteria, and Bacteroidetes. Alpha diversity in the proximal and distal CRC tumor tissues was closely related to specific microflora. The abundance of Fusobacteria was associated with age of patient, tumor diameter, and tumor microsatellite instability (MSI) status of the patients. Moreover, Fusobacteria enrichment was associated with poor prognosis especially in patients with proximal colon cancers, but not in patients with distal CRC. In conclusion, proximal and distal subsites of the CRC present distinct microbiota diversity and community structures. The differences indicate that there are different risk factors across anatomical subsites of CRC, which may provide a new strategy for precise prevention and treatment of CRC in the future.

Microbial Characteristics of Locally Advanced Rectal Cancer Patients After Neoadjuvant Chemoradiation Therapy According to Pathologic Response.

BACKGROUND: Intestinal microbiota play a critical role in the development of colorectal cancer. However, little is known about the structure and characteristics of gut microbial in colorectal cancer, especially in locally advanced rectal cancer after neoadjuvant chemoradiation therapy. METHODS: Here, we performed this study to evaluate microbial characteristics between pathologic complete response (pCR) (n=12) and non-pathological complete response (Non-pCR) (n=45) tumor tissues from patients with locally advanced rectal cancer after neoadjuvant chemoradiation therapy. In this study, 16S rRNA gene sequencing was used to detect the microbial diversity including Alpha diversity and Beta diversity. Moreover, we used PICRUSt from the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) database to predict the microbial metabolism functions. RESULTS: There was significant statistical difference in PFS between pCR and Non-pCR group (p < 0.05). However, there was no significant difference in OS between pCR and Non-pCR group. The microbial compositions in the both groups were Proteobacteria, Actinobacteria, Firmicutes and Thermi and Bacteroidetes at the phylum level. The five most predominant genera in both pCR and Non-pCR tissue groups were Sphingobium, Acinetobacter, Cupriavidus, Thermi and Sphingomonas at the genus level. The key taxa identified in the pCR and Non-pCR tissues were Thermi and Sphingomonadaceae respectively. In addition, a series of human disease-related genes were also significantly different between pCR and Non-pCR group. CONCLUSION: In summary, we demonstrated the characteristic differences in microbial communities between pCR tissues and Non-pCR tumor tissues from locally advanced rectal cancer patients after neoadjuvant chemoradiation therapy. Our results present new alterations in the microbiome in locally advanced rectal cancer after neoadjuvant chemoradiation therapy, suggesting that it will provide a new perspective for the precise treatment of neoadjuvant rectal cancer by targeting specific microbial species in the future.

A diet-microbial metabolism feedforward loop modulates intestinal stem cell renewal in the stressed gut.

Dietary patterns and psychosocial factors, ubiquitous part of modern lifestyle, critically shape the gut microbiota and human health. However, it remains obscure how dietary and psychosocial inputs coordinately modulate the gut microbiota and host impact. Here, we show that dietary raffinose metabolism to fructose couples stress-induced gut microbial remodeling to intestinal stem cells (ISC) renewal and epithelial homeostasis. Chow diet (CD) and purified diet (PD) confer distinct vulnerability to gut epithelial injury, microbial alternation and ISC dysfunction in chronically restrained mice. CD preferably enriches Lactobacillus reuteri, and its colonization is sufficient to rescue stress-triggered epithelial injury. Mechanistically, dietary raffinose sustains Lactobacillus reuteri growth, which in turn metabolizes raffinose to fructose and thereby constituting a feedforward metabolic loop favoring ISC maintenance during stress. Fructose augments and engages glycolysis to fuel ISC proliferation. Our data reveal a diet-stress interplay that dictates microbial metabolism-shaped ISC turnover and is exploitable for alleviating gut disorders.

Paeoniflorin modulates gut microbial production of indole-3-lactate and epithelial autophagy to alleviate colitis in mice.

BACKGROUND: Total glucosides of peony (TGP), extracted from the root and rhizome of Paeonia lactiflora Pall, has well-confirmed immunomodulatory efficacy in the clinic. However, the mechanism and active ingredients remain largely unclear. HYPOTHESIS/PURPOSE: Our previous study revealed a low systemic exposure but predominant gut distribution of TGP components. The aim of this study was to investigate involvement of the gut microbiota in the immunoregulatory effects and identify the active component. METHODS: Mice received 3% DSS to establish a model of colitis. The treatment group received TGP or single paeoniflorin (PF) or albiflorin (AF). Body weight, colon length, inflammatory and histological changes were assessed. Gut microbiota structure was profiled by 16s rRNA sequencing. Antibiotic treatment and fecal transplantation were used to explore the involvement of gut microbiota. Metabolomic assay of host and microbial metabolites in colon was performed. RESULTS: TGP improved colonic injury and gut microbial dysbiosis in colitis mice, and PF was responsible for the protective effects. Fecal microbiota transfer from TGP-treated mice conferred resilience to colitis, while antibiotic treatment abrogated the protective effects. Both TGP and PF decreased colonic indole-3-lactate (ILA), a microbial tryptophan metabolite. ILA was further identified as an inhibitor of epithelial autophagy and ILA supplementation compromised the benefits of TGP. CONCLUSION: Our findings suggest that TGP acts in part through a gut microbiota-ILA-epithelial autophagy axis to alleviate colitis.

Fatty-acid receptor CD36 functions as a hydrogen sulfide-targeted receptor with its Cys333-Cys272 disulfide bond serving as a specific molecular switch to accelerate gastric cancer metastasis.

BACKGROUND: Hydrogen Sulfide (H2S), a third member of gasotransmitter family along with nitric oxide (NO) and carbon monoxide (CO), exerts a wide range of cellular and molecular actions in our body. There is a large body of evidence suggesting that H2S plays an important role in cancer metastasis; however, the molecular mechanisms of H2S-mediated acceleration of cancer metastasis remain unknown. METHODS: We examined the promote effects of H2S on phenotype of gastric cancer (GC) cells (including those of express wild type CD36 and mutant CD36) in vitro and in vivo. GC patients' samples were used for clinical translational significance evaluation. FINDINGS: H2S triggered lipid metabolism reprogramming by significantly up-regulating the expression of the fatty-acid receptor CD36 (CD36) and directly activating CD36 in GC cells. Mechanistically, a disulfide bond located between cysteine (Cys)333 and Cys272 within the CD36 protein structure that was labile to H2S-mediated modification. The long chain-fatty acid (LC-FA) binding pocket was capped by a turn in the CD36 protein, located between helical and sheet structures that were stabilized by the Cys333-Cys272. This limited the secondary binding between LC-FAs and lysine (Lys)334. Breaking the Cys333-Cys272 disulfide bond restored the second LC-FA binding conformation of CD36. Targeting CD36 in vivo blocked H2S-promoted metastasis and improved animal survival. INTERPRETATION: These findings identify that the Cys333-Cys272 disulfide bond disrupted the integrity of the second LC-FA binding conformation of CD36. Therefore, CD36 can directly activate LC-FA access to the cytoplasm by acting as a direct target molecule for H2S.

Hydrogen Sulfide Demonstrates Promising Antitumor Efficacy in Gastric Carcinoma by Targeting MGAT5.

Mannosyl (alpha-1,6-)-Glycoprotein beta-1,6-N-acetyl-glucosaminyltransferase (MGAT5) is exclusively expressed in gastric carcinoma, and plays an essential role in cancer progression, but no targeted drug is available so far. The potential anti-cancer effect of Hydrogen Sulfide (H2S), has not been widely recognized. It intrigued broad interest to explore the clinical benefits of cancer therapy, with the current understanding of molecular mechanisms of H2S which remains very limited. In this study, we identify that H2S is an effective inhibitor of MGAT5, leading to reduce the expression of exclusively abnormal glycoprotein processes in gastric carcinoma. H2S specifically dissociation of karyopherin subunit alpha-2 (KPNA2) with Jun proto-oncogene (c-Jun) interaction, and blocking c-Jun nuclear translocation, and downregulation of MGAT5 expression at the level of gene and protein. Consequently, H2S impairs growth and metastasis in gastric carcinoma by targeting inhibits MGAT5 activity. In an animal tumor model study, H2S is well tolerated, inhibits gastric carcinoma growth and metastasis. Our preclinical work therefore supports that H2S acts as a novel inhibitor of MGAT5 that block tumorigenesis in gastric carcinoma. SIGNIFICANCE: This study shows that H2S can effective targeting inhibits MGAT5 activity, and demonstrates promising antitumor efficacy. These findings gain mechanistic insights into the anti-cancer capacity of H2S and may provide useful information for the clinical explorations of H2S in cancer treatment.

Berberine protects acute liver failure in mice through inhibiting inflammation and mitochondria-dependent apoptosis.

Acute liver failure (ALF) is characterized by sudden large area of inflammation and extensive hepatocyte apoptosis. This study identified the natural product berberine as a potential agent for acute liver failure(ALF). First, in vitro, BBR pre-incubation (5, 10 and 20µM) alleviated L02 hepatocytes injury induced by D-GalN (5mM)/TNF-α (100ng/ml). Second, in vivo, BBR pre-treatment attenuated D-Galactosamine (D-GalN)/lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced acute liver failure, as evidenced by the reduction of mortality, the alleviation of liver pathological changes and the inhibition of alanine aminotransferase (ALT)/aspartate aminotransferase (AST). Our results further illustrated that BBR inhibited the nuclear translocation of NF-κB p65 and subsequently suppressed the expressions of inflammatory cytokines, tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) at both mRNA and protein levels in ALF. Moreover, western blotting demonstrated that BBR effectively inhibited apoptosis via reducing cytochrome c release, Bax/Bcl-2 ratio and caspase-3/-9 cleavage in vitro and in vivo. In conclusion, our findings suggest that BBR serves as a potential agent for preventing or treating human ALF by inhibiting inflammation and mitochondria-dependent apoptosis.

Bioinformatics insight into glycosyltransferase gene expression in gastric cancer: POFUT1 is a potential biomarker.

Aberrant glycosylation plays an important role in the progression of gastric cancer. Although many enzymes are involved in glycoconjugate synthesis, little information is known about glycosyltransferase (GT)'s alteration in gastric cancer. To give an insight into the differential expression of GTs as obtained from the TCGA database, bioinformatics analysis of 415 gastric cancer samples and 35 normal samples was performed. Using a 0.6-fold change threshold to compare GT expression in normal and cancer tissues, it was noted that 36 GTs were upregulated including POFUT1 and 30 GTs were downregulated in cancer tissues (P < 0.01). Enriched pathway analysis indicated that POFUT1 was correlated positively with cell cycle and cell carcinoma process but correlated negatively with cell adhesion and apoptosis (P < 0.05). Furthermore, immunohistochemistry analysis verified that 33 out of 51 tumor tissues had detectable POFUT1 expression. POFUT1-positive samples were associated with aggressive tumor phenotypes like higher T and N classification (P = 0.026, 0.042) as well as poor differentiation (P = 0.031). No correlation was observed between POFUT1 expression and age, gender, stage, and Lauren classification. These results suggested that POFUT1 is increased and may serve as a potential biomarker in gastric cancer.