Gut Microbiome-Mediated Changes in Bone Metabolism Upon Infrared Light Exposure in Rats

Abstract

Background Adequate sunlight exposure helps reduce bone loss and is important to bone health. Currently, about 90% of the world population spends a major portion of daily life under artificial lighting. Unlike sunlight, LED white light, the main source of artificial lighting, has no infrared radiation, which is known to be beneficial to human health. In artificial lighting environments, infrared supplementation may be used to simulate the effects of sunlight on bone metabolism. Results Here, we supplemented white LED exposure with infrared light in normal and ovariectomized rats for three consecutive months and examined bone turnover, bone mass, and bone density. We also analyzed the structure and function of gut microbiota in the rats. Infrared supplementation significantly reduced the abundance of Saccharibacteria and increased the abundance of Clostridiaceae 1 and Erysipelotrichaceae bacteria. Our results indicate that changes in the gut microbiome correlate well with bone mass and bone metabolism.Conclusions Our work demonstrates that infrared supplementation can have a positive effect on rat bone metabolism by affecting gut microbiota. Our findings will be important considerations in the future design of healthy lighting environments that prevent or possibly ameliorate osteoporosis.

New Advances in Improving Bone Health Based on Specific Gut Microbiota

“…To clarify whether this effect is related to gut microbes. Lu et al (2021) supplemented white LED irradiation with infrared light in rats for three consecutive months and found that the abundance of Saccharibacteria and F/B ratio were significantly reduced, whereas the amounts of Clostridiaceae 1, Erysipelotrichaceae, Peptostreptococcaceae, Porphyromonadaceae, and Prevotellaceae were increased. This study suggested that infrared supplementation increased BMD and positively affected bone metabolism in rats by influencing the gut microbiota, reducing inflammation, and increasing butyrate production.…”