Diet Complexity and Estrogen Receptor β Status Affect the Composition of the Murine Intestinal Microbiota

Abstract

Intestinal microbial dysbiosis contributes to the dysmetabolism of luminal factors, including steroid hormones (sterones) that affect the development of chronic gastrointestinal inflammation and the incidence of sterone-responsive cancers of the breast, prostate, and colon. Little is known, however, about the role of specific host sterone nucleoreceptors, including estrogen receptor ␤ (ER␤), in microbiota maintenance. Herein, we test the hypothesis that ER␤ status affects microbiota composition and determine if such compositionally distinct microbiota respond differently to changes in diet complexity that favor Proteobacteria enrichment. To this end, conventionally raised female ER␤ ؉/؉ and ER␤ ؊/؊ C57BL/6J mice (mean age of 27 weeks) were initially reared on 8604, a complex diet containing estrogenic isoflavones, and then fed AIN-76, an isoflavone-free semisynthetic diet, for 2 weeks. 16S rRNA gene surveys revealed that the fecal microbiota of 8604-fed mice and AIN-76-fed mice differed, as expected. The relative diversity of Proteobacteria, especially the Alphaproteobacteria and Gammaproteobacteria, increased significantly following the transition to AIN-76. Distinct patterns for beneficial Lactobacillales were exclusive to and highly abundant among 8604-fed mice, whereas several Proteobacteria were exclusive to AIN-76-fed mice. Interestingly, representative orders of the phyla Proteobacteria, Bacteroidetes, and Firmicutes, including the Lactobacillales, also differed as a function of murine ER␤ status. Overall, these interactions suggest that sterone nucleoreceptor status and diet complexity may play important roles in microbiota maintenance. Furthermore, we envision that this model for gastrointestinal dysbiosis may be used to identify novel probiotics, prebiotics, nutritional strategies, and pharmaceuticals for the prevention and resolution of Proteobacteria-rich dysbiosis.

Exploring diet-dependent shifts in methanogen and methanotroph diversity in the rumen of Mehsani buffalo by a metagenomics approach

“…Type I methanotrophs are γ -proteobacteria and use the ribulose monophosphate pathway to assimilate carbon, whereas type II methanotrophs are α-proteobacteria and use the serine pathway to assimilate carbon (Oremland & Culbertson 1992). In the present study, the higher abundance of Proteobacteria in the M50GL group, which was fed a mixed ration, strongly correlates with the results of a previous report, which found a higher abundance of Proteobacteria and lower abundance of Bacteroidetes following the consumption of a compositionally simple, sucrose-based diet that was low in fibre and devoid of isoflavones (Menon et al 2013). The subdivisions of the phylum Proteobacteria were significantly altered in their abundance with the change in diet.…”

Vaginal microbiota and genitourinary menopausal symptoms: a cross-sectional analysis

“…33 There are few studies of estrogen receptor phenotype and microbiota, but in mice negative for the ERβ gene the gastrointestinal microbiota are significantly different from mice with the gene present; mice without ERβ were less likely to have Lactobacilliales detected in the gastrointestinal microbial community. 34 …”

Space Environmental Factor Impacts upon Murine Colon Microbiota and Mucosal Homeostasis

“…DNA was isolated from homogenized fecal samples using a FastDNA SPIN kit according to the manufacturer’s instructions (MP Biomedicals, Solon, OH) [20]. This method includes a physical disruption step to ensure genomic DNA isolation from Gram positive bacteria.…”