Gut fungi differentially response to the antipyretic (heat-clearing) and diaphoretic (exterior-releasing) traditional Chinese medicines in Coptis chinensis-conditioned gut microbiota

Abstract

Antipyretic (heat-clearing) and diaphoretic (exterior-releasing) drugs are two main groups of traditional Chinese medicines (TCMs) possessing anti-microbes and anti-inflammation effects, with the former mainly through clearing pyrogens while the latter through promoting diaphoresis. Although anti-microorganism is a common action of these two kinds of TCMs, their difference in antimicrobial spectrums and their interactions when combinedly used remain unclear. Herein, we prepared aqueous extracts from Coptis chinensis (HL) and other antipyretic or diaphoretic TCMs, orally administrated them to C57BL/6 mice at a clinical dose for fourteen days, and analyzed their impaction on both gut bacteria and fungi using full-length 16 S rRNA gene sequencing and internal transcribed spacer 1/2 (ITS1/2) gene sequencing, respectively. Oral administration of HL significantly changed the structure of gut bacteria but showed little influence on gut fungi. Co-treatment with antipyretic or diaphoretic TCMs alleviated the impact of HL on gut bacteria to a similar degree. However, combined with either heat-clearing or exterior-releasing TCMs significantly strengthened the influence of HL on gut fungi, with the latter superior to the former. The antipyretic TCMs enriched Penicillium spp. while diaphoretic TCMs promoted Fusarium spp. Further analysis revealed that the diaphoretic TCMs-enriched fungi Fusarium spp. were positively related to Akkermansia spp., a beneficial bacterium that interacts with Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) and regulates thermogenesis, thus providing a potential linkage with their pro-diaphoresis effect. Together, our results reveal that gut fungi differentially respond to the impact of heat-clearing and exterior-releasing TCMs on Coptis chinensis-conditioned gut microbiota, which provides insights into their functional characteristics.

Fecal metabolomics combined with 16S rRNA gene sequencing to analyze the effect of Jiaotai pill intervention in type 2 diabetes mellitus rats

“…It is clinically effective in the treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus. Modern research has found that Coptis chinensis significantly inhibits the growth of pathogenic bacteria and promotes the growth of beneficial bacteria ( 6 , 7 ). Meanwhile, gut microbiota converts berberine and safranine in Coptis chinensis into hydrogenated products and the palmatine in Coptis chinensis into demethoxylated products, making it easier to be absorbed and to exert therapeutic effects ( 8 , 9 ).…”

Modulative effect of Physalis alkekengi on both gut bacterial and fungal micro-ecosystem

“…Growing evidences have proved that gut microbiota is a promising target mediated the efficacy of various drugs, such as Momordica charantia L. ( Zhang et al, 2020a ), mulberry leaf ( Li et al, 2020b ) and berberine ( Zhang et al, 2020c ). The modulation of gut microbiota is closely related to the nature and properties of traditional Chinese medicines (TCMs) ( Yang et al, 2022b , Yang et al, 2022c , Yin et al, 2022 , Zhang et al, 2021a ). Our previous study also revealed that specific bacterium such as Blautia producta was a key mediator for anti-hyperlipidemia effect of berberine ( Wu et al, 2022a , Yang et al, 2022d ).…”