Effects of Cigarette Smoke Exposure on the Gut Microbiota and Liver Transcriptome in Mice Reveal Gut–Liver Interactions

Abstract

Cigarette smoke exposure has a harmful impact on health and increases the risk of disease. However, studies on cigarette-smoke-induced adverse effects from the perspective of the gut–liver axis are lacking. In this study, we evaluated the adverse effects of cigarette smoke exposure on mice through physiological, biochemical, and histopathological analyses and explored cigarette-smoke-induced gut microbiota imbalance and changes in liver gene expression through a multiomics analysis. We demonstrated that cigarette smoke exposure caused abnormal physiological indices (including reduced body weight, blood lipids, and food intake) in mice, which also triggered liver injury and induced disorders of the gut microbiota and liver transcriptome (especially lipid metabolism). A significant correlation between intestinal bacterial abundance and the expression of lipid-metabolism-related genes was detected, suggesting the coordinated regulation of lipid metabolism by gut microbiota and liver metabolism. Specifically, Salmonella (harmful bacterium) was negatively and positively correlated with up- (such as Acsl3 and Me1) and downregulated genes (such as Angptl4, Cyp4a12a, and Plin5) involved in lipid metabolism, while Ligilactobacillus (beneficial bacterium) showed opposite trends with these genes. Our results clarified the key role of gut microbiota in liver damage and metabolism and improved the understanding of gut–liver interactions caused by cigarette smoke exposure.

Longitudinal dynamics of gut bacteriome and mycobiome interactions pre- and post-visceral surgery in Crohn’s disease

“…were previously reported to exert anti-inflammatory effects on the gut microbiome of humans promoting short-chain fatty acid production ( Barcenilla et al., 2000 ; Pryde et al., 2002 ; Macfarlane and Macfarlane, 2011 ). The association between higher Eubacterium abundances and smoking detected in this study has been previously reported in the gut microbiome of mice after smoke exposure and in the salivary microbiome of smoking humans ( Duan et al., 2017 ; Meng et al., 2022 ). However, the literature is inconsistent as other studies found unchanged or decreased Eubacterium spp.…”

Effect of Honey and Aqueous Garlic Extracts against Short-Term Exposure of Cigarette Tobacco Smoking in Mice: Histopathological and Biochemical Investigations

“…Tis is consistent with the biochemical fndings. Cigarette smoking caused abnormal physiological indices (such as reduced body weight, blood lipid levels, and food intake) that resulted in hepatocellular damage, abnormalities in the liver transcriptome during lipid metabolism, and disruption of the gut microbiota in mice [22][23][24]. Moreover, other fndings showed the renal function of mice was negatively afected by exposure to cigarette smoking, which led to an acceleration of renal fbrosis and cystic development as well as a physiological reduction in glomerulus fltration rate [25,26].…”

Chronic Exposure to Both Electronic and Conventional Cigarettes Alters Ileum and Colon Turnover, Immune Function, and Barrier Integrity in Mice

“…Consistently, Shannon, ACE, and Chao1 indexes were unchanged after 0.5-, 1.5-, and 3-months CS exposure, respectively [ 69 , 70 , 71 ]. These latter α-diversity indexes were also found unmodified in colon microbiota after a three- [ 72 ] or 6-month exposure in addition to richness, Evenness, and Faith’s phylogenetic diversity [ 73 ].…”