Gut microbiota is recognized as an indispensable “metabolic organ” that plays crucial roles in maintaining human health or initiating diseases. Spleen-yang-deficiency syndrome (SYDS) is a common syndrome of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) clinic. It is a complex phenotype reflecting the overall changes of metabolism which are mainly caused by digestive disorders. However, little is known about the changes of gut microbiota and metabolism in patients with SYDS, as well as the crosstalk between gut microbiota and host metabolism. In the current study, an integrative metabolic and microbial profiling was performed on plasma, urine and feces from recruited SYDS and healthy individuals by using a LC-QTOFMS-based metabolomic and 16 s rRNA sequencing approaches. Our results showed a potentially significant contribution of gut dysbiosis to the metabolic disorders in SYDS. By integrating the differential gut bacteria with the metabolites, the results revealed some active bacterium of norank_f_CFT112H7, f_lachnospiraceae and bacteroides were closely involved in host mucosal integrity, bile acid metabolism and polysaccharides decomposition. Therefore, our results indicated the probable involvement of gut microbiota in mediating the metabolic changes, which warrants a further investigation on the role of gut microbiota in modulating the pathogenesis of SYDS.
Microbial transformation or degradation of hydrophobic substrates is usually hindered by their limited aqueous solubilities. Pickering interfacial catalysis in biphasic systems has recently been developed to enhance catalytic efficiency. Till...
Preliminary studies conducted in our laboratory have confirmed that Bacopaside I (BS-I), a saponin compound isolated from Bacopa monnieri, displayed antidepressant-like activity in the mouse behavioral despair model. The present investigation aimed to verify the antidepressant-like action of BS-I using a mouse model of behavioral deficits induced by chronic unpredictable mild stress (CUMS) and further probe its underlying mechanism of action. Mice were exposed to CUMS for a period of 5 consecutive weeks to induce depression-like behavior. Then, oral gavage administrations with vehicle (model group), fluoxetine (12 mg/kg, positive group) or BS-I (5, 15, 45 mg/kg, treated group) once daily were started during the last two weeks of CUMS procedure. The results showed that BS-I significantly ameliorated CUMS-induced depression-like behaviors in mice, as characterized by an elevated sucrose consumption in the sucrose preference test and reduced immobility time without affecting spontaneous locomotor activity in the forced swimming test, tail suspension test and open field test. It was also found that BS-I treatment reversed the increased level of plasma corticosterone and decreased mRNA and protein expressions of glucocorticoid receptor induced by CUMS exposure, indicating that hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis hyperactivity of CUMS-exposed mice was restored by BS-I treatment. Furthermore, chronic administration of BS-I elevated expression levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) (mRNA and protein) and activated the phosphorylation of extracellular signal-regulated kinase and cAMP response element-binding protein in the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex in mice subjected to CUMS procedure. Taken together, these results indicated that BS-I exhibited an obvious antidepressant-like effect in mouse model of CUMS-induced depression that was mediated, at least in part, by modulating HPA hyperactivity and activating BDNF signaling pathway.
Pickering emulsions stabilized by
bacteria acting as particle emulsifiers
are new platforms for microbial transformations of hydrophobic chemicals.
However, their high stability often hampers demulsification during
downstream processing. Since the existing methods (like addition of
surfactants) to demulsify bacteria-stabilized Pickering emulsions
have negative effects, new practical methods need to be developed.
Here, using chemically modified fumed silica particles with different
hydrophobicity, the demulsification of W/O Pickering emulsions stabilized
by Mycobacterium neoaurum whole cells
was first studied. The binary particle-stabilized emulsions exhibited
phase inversion and dewatering induced by the coalescence of W/O emulsions
or creaming of O/W emulsions. The silica particle hydrophobicity and
concentration were the important parameters influencing the emulsion
type, droplet morphology, and dewatering rate. The highest dewatering
rate and largest droplet size were obtained at the inversion point
from W/O to O/W. Confocal microscopy showed that no interaction between
the bacteria and silica particles existed and the silica particle
adsorption at the interface induced the detachment of bacteria from
the interface, revealing that there was competitive adsorption between
the binary particles at the interface. Based on these results, we
suggested that the average hydrophobicity of the binary particles
at the interface would determine the emulsion type and stability.
Finally, this strategy was successfully applied to the demulsification
of the Pickering emulsion formed during microbial transformation of
sterols. Overall, this study provides a new strategy to demulsify
Pickering emulsions by addition of another particle emulsifier. This
is also the first example of separation of products as well as organic
phases after microbial transformation in Pickering emulsions.
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