Pomegranate peel extract alters the microbiome in mice and dysbiosis caused by Citrobacter rodentium infection

Abstract

Treatment of mice with a pomegranate peel extract (PPX) decreased the pathogenicity of Citrobacter rodentium ( Cr ) infections. Here, we investigate the effects of PPX on the microbiome of uninfected or Cr ‐infected C3H/HeNCr mice by 16S rRNA gene sequencing. Mice were treated with water or PPX for 14 days, feces were collected, and then, the mice were infected with Cr and feces collected again at day 6 postinfection. DNA was isolated from the fecal samples and subjected to 16S rRNA gene sequencing to determine the microbial composition. Differences in the composition of the microbiome were observed for untreated and PPX‐treated mice with PPX mice having decreased diversity. PPX treatment decreased the Firmicutes/Bacteroidetes ratio by increasing Bacteroidetes and decreasing Firmicutes levels. The decrease in Firmicutes was driven by a large reduction in Lactobacillus . PPX treatment increased the abundance of Proteobacteria and Verrucomicrobiae and decreased Actinobacteria. The relative abundance of Cr reached 22% in water‐treated but only 5% in PPX‐treated infected mice. These results suggest that consumption of pomegranate polyphenols altered the microbiome, making it more resistant to displacement by infection with Cr , indicating that pomegranate polyphenols may mitigate the pathogenic effects of food‐borne bacterial pathogens.

Long-Term Blackcurrant Supplementation Modified Gut Microbiome Profiles in Mice in an Age-Dependent Manner: An Exploratory Study

“…Well known health promoting phytochemicals such as green tea and black tea polyphenols may regulate host health through promoting the growth of Bacteroides while suppressing the growth of Firmicutes [33]. Another study also showed that pomegranate peel extract treatment for 14 days significantly reduced F/B ratio in mice [34]. In our study, we also observed a significantly lower F/B ratio in BC-fed mice than the control mice.…”

Food Applications and Potential Health Benefits of Pomegranate and its Derivatives

“…The use of pomegranate peel extracts on the outcome of coccidiosis in mice has been found to attenuate inflammation and injury of the jejunum that is induced by Eimeria papillata infections [83]. In a similar study, treatment with a pomegranate peel extract decreased the pathogenicity of Citrobacter rodentium infections in mice, suggesting an alteration of the microbiome, making it more resistant to Citrobacter rodentium [82]. Citrobacter rodentium mimics many aspects of human enteropathogenic Escherichia coli infections and is therefore used in several studies with mice.…”

“…Furthermore, punicalagin reduces the high-fat diet-induced accumulation of cardiac triglyceride and cholesterol in obese rats via adenosine monophosphate (AMP)-activated protein kinase (AMPK) activation [81]. Finally, pomegranate leaf extracts can inhibit lipid absorption and reduce blood triglycerides and total cholesterol in hyperlipidemic mice by inhibiting lipase activity [82].…”

Mechanistic insights into the attenuation of intestinal inflammation and modulation of the gut microbiome by krill oil using in vitro and in vivo models

“…Of note, there were two OTUs assigned to the genus Citrobacter while seven OTUs were assigned to the genus Trabulsiella (and four of them annotated to T. farmeri) using the Greengenes database in this study. The European Nucleotide Archive suggests that the Greengenes assignment of Trabulsiella may be incorrect [31]. The representative sequences of the OTU involved also mapped to Citrobacter in the Ribosomal Database Project database but at a 90% similarity level.…”