scholarly journals Gut microbiota and phytoestrogen-associated infertility in southern white rhinoceros

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Candace L. Williams ◽  
Alexis R. Ybarra ◽  
Ashley N. Meredith ◽  
Barbara S. Durrant ◽  
Christopher W. Tubbs

AbstractWith recent poaching of southern white rhinoceros (Ceratotherium simum simum; SWR) reaching record levels, the need for a robust assurance population is urgent. However, the global captive SWR population is not currently self-sustaining due to the reproductive failure of captive-born females. Dietary phytoestrogens have been proposed to play a role in this phenomenon, and recent work has demonstrated a negative relationship between diet estrogenicity and fertility of captive-born female SWR. To further examine this relationship, we compared gut microbial communities, fecal phytoestrogens, and fertility of SWR to another rhinoceros species–the greater one-horned rhinoceros (Rhinoceros unicornis; GOHR), which consumes a similar diet but exhibits high levels of fertility in captivity. Using 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing and mass spectrometry, we identified a species-specific fecal microbiota and three dominant fecal phytoestrogen profiles. These profiles exhibited varying levels of estrogenicity when tested in an in vitro estrogen receptor activation assay for both rhinoceros species, with profiles dominated by the microbial metabolite, equol, stimulating the highest levels of receptor activation. Finally, we found that SWR fertility varies significantly with respect to phytoestrogen profile, but also with the abundance of several bacterial taxa and microbially-derived phytoestrogen metabolites. Taken together, these data suggest that in addition to species differences in estrogen receptor sensitivity to phytoestrogens, reproductive outcomes may be driven by gut microbiota’s transformation of dietary phytoestrogens in captive SWR females.

mBio ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Candace L. Williams ◽  
Alexis R. Ybarra ◽  
Ashley N. Meredith ◽  
Barbara S. Durrant ◽  
Christopher W. Tubbs

ABSTRACT With recent poaching of southern white rhinoceros (SWR [Ceratotherium simum simum]) reaching record levels, the need for a robust assurance population is urgent. However, the global captive SWR population is not currently self-sustaining due to the reproductive failure of captive-born females. Dietary phytoestrogens have been proposed to play a role in this phenomenon, and recent work has demonstrated a negative relationship between diet estrogenicity and fertility of captive-born female SWR. To further examine this relationship, we compared gut microbial communities, fecal phytoestrogens, and fertility of SWR to those of another rhinoceros species—the greater one-horned rhinoceros (GOHR [Rhinoceros unicornis]), which consumes a similar diet but exhibits high levels of fertility in captivity. Using 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing and mass spectrometry, we identified a species-specific fecal microbiota and three dominant fecal phytoestrogen profiles. These profiles exhibited various levels of estrogenicity when tested in an in vitro estrogen receptor activation assay for both rhinoceros species, with profiles dominated by the microbial metabolite equol stimulating the highest levels of receptor activation. Finally, we found that SWR fertility varies significantly not only with respect to phytoestrogen profile, but also with respect to the abundance of several bacterial taxa and microbially derived phytoestrogen metabolites. Taken together, these data suggest that in addition to species differences in estrogen receptor sensitivity to phytoestrogens, reproductive outcomes may be driven by the gut microbiota’s transformation of dietary phytoestrogens in captive SWR females. IMPORTANCE Southern white rhinoceros (SWR) poaching has reached record levels, and captive infertility has rendered SWR assurance populations no longer self-sustaining. Previous work has identified dietary phytoestrogens as a likely cause of this problem. Here, we investigate the role of gut microbiota in this phenomenon by comparing two rhinoceros species to provide the first characterizations of gut microbiomes for any rhinoceros species. To our knowledge, our approach, combining parallel sequencing, mass spectrometry, and estrogen receptor activation assays, provides insight into the relationship between microbially mediated phytoestrogen metabolism and fertility that is novel for any vertebrate species. With this information, we plan to direct future work aimed at developing strategies to improve captive reproduction in the hope of alleviating their threat of extinction.


2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (5) ◽  
pp. 623
Author(s):  
Ka-Lung Lam ◽  
Wai-Yin Cheng ◽  
Fan Yang ◽  
Shaoling Lin ◽  
Lijun You ◽  
...  

We proposed a framework with parametric modeling to obtain biological relevant parameters from the total probiotic growth pattern and metabolite production curves. The lag phase, maximum increase rate, and maximum capacity were obtained via a 205-h exploratory In vitro fermentation of a library of 13 structural-characterized prebiotic candidates against an exclusively breastfed infant fecal inoculum. We also conducted 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing of the infant fecal inoculum. Moreover, we introduce a robust composite metabolite-based indicator that reflects the eubiosis/dysbiosis of microbiota to complement the conventional microbial markers. In terms of short-chain fatty acid, we discovered that polymeric beta-glucans from barley demonstrated potential as prebiotic candidates, while alpha-glucans as glycogen showed the least dissolved ammonia production. In terms of total probiotic, beta-glucans from oat and mushroom sclerotia of Pleurotus tuber-regium showed comparable sustainability when compared to alpha-glucans after 48 h. Being classical prebiotic, galacto-oligosaccharides gave the second-highest metabolite-based indicator, followed by lactose. While limited improvement could be made to lactose and oligosaccharides, polymeric beta-glucans from barley avails more capacity for novel prebiotic development, such as structural modification. We anticipate that more similar parallel screening with the element of time and parametric modeling will provide more novel insights.


2020 ◽  
Vol 367 (16) ◽  
Author(s):  
Pauline Bondue ◽  
Sarah Lebrun ◽  
Bernard Taminiau ◽  
Nadia Everaert ◽  
Gisele LaPointe ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT The ‘first 1000 days of life’ determine the gut microbiota composition and can have long-term health consequences. In this study, the simulator of the human intestinal microbial ecosystem (SHIME®) model, which represents the main functional sections of the digestive tract, was chosen to study the microbiota of young children. The aim of this study was to reproduce the digestive process of toddlers and their specific colonic environment. The ascending, transverse and descending colons of SHIME® model were inoculated with feces from three donors aged between 1 and 2 years-old, in three separate runs. For each run, samples from colon vessels were collected at days 14, 21 and 28 after microbiota stabilization period. Short chain fatty acid concentrations determined by HPLC showed that microbiota obtained in SHIME® model shared characteristics between adults and infants. In addition, microbial diversity and bacterial populations determined by 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing were specific to each colon vessel. In conclusion, the SHIME® model developed in this study seemed well adapted to evaluate prebiotic and probiotic impact on the specific microbiota of toddlers, or medicine and endocrine disruptor metabolism. Moreover, this study is the first to highlight some biofilm development in in vitro gastrointestinal modelling systems.


2015 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 749-755 ◽  
Author(s):  
Liyi Yang ◽  
Kimberly F. Allred ◽  
Linda Dykes ◽  
Clinton D. Allred ◽  
Joseph M. Awika

We report unusually strong enhanced effect of apigenin-naringenin combination and natural flavonoid mixtures on estrogenic response in non-malignant young adult mouse colonocytesin vitro.


2013 ◽  
Vol 168 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jan Frystyk ◽  
Anders J Schou ◽  
Carsten Heuck ◽  
Henrik Vorum ◽  
Mikkel Lyngholm ◽  
...  

ObjectiveEnd-point bioassays based on thymidine or sulfate incorporation have demonstrated that glucocorticoid (GC) treatment inhibits serum IGF1 action, but the mechanism is unknown as serum IGF1 concentrations have been reported to either increase or remain unchanged.AimTo investigate whether GC treatment affects the ability of serum to activate the IGF1 receptor (IGF1R) in vitro (i.e. bioactive IGF1), using a specific cell-based IGF1 kinase receptor activation assay.Subjects and methodsTwenty children with stable asthma (age 7.7–13.8 years) treated for 1 week with 5 mg prednisolone in a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled crossover study. Non-fasting serum samples were collected in the afternoon after each 7-day period and assayed for bioactive IGF1, free IGF1, total IGFs, IGF-binding proteins (IGFBPs), and insulin.ResultsPrednisolone treatment reduced IGF1 bioactivity by 12.6% from 2.22±0.18 to 1.94±0.15 μg/l (P=0.01) compared with placebo. In contrast, no changes were observed for (μg/l; placebo vs prednisolone) total IGF1 (215±27 vs 212±24), free IGF1 (1.50±0.16 vs 1.43±0.17), total IGF2 (815±26 vs 800±31), IGFBP3 (3140±101 vs 3107±95), IGFBP2 (238±21 vs 220±19), IGFBP1 (32±6 vs 42±10), or IGFBP1-bound IGF1 (24±5 vs 26±7). Insulin remained unchanged as did IGFBP levels as estimated by western ligand blotting. Prednisolone had no direct effects on IGF1R phosphorylation.ConclusionsOur study gives evidence that GC treatment induces a circulating substance that is able to inhibit IGF1R activation in vitro without affecting circulating free or total IGF1. This may be one of the mechanisms by which GC inhibits IGF1 action in vivo. However, the nature of this circulating substance remains to be identified.


2022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sebastien P. Faucher ◽  
Sara Matthews ◽  
Arvin Nickzad ◽  
Passoret Vounba ◽  
Deeksha Shetty ◽  
...  

Legionella pneumophila is a natural inhabitant of water systems. From there, it can be transmitted to humans by aerosolization resulting in severe pneumonia. Most large outbreaks are caused by cooling towers contaminated with L. pneumophila. The resident microbiota of the cooling tower is a key determinant for the colonization and growth of L. pneumophila. The genus Pseudomonas correlates negatively with the presence of L. pneumophila, but it is not clear which species is responsible. Therefore, we identified the Pseudomonas species inhabiting 14 cooling towers using a Pseudomonas-specific 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing strategy. Cooling towers free of L. pneumophila contained a high relative abundance of members from the Pseudomonas alcaliphila/oleovorans phylogenetic cluster. In vitro, P. alcaliphila JCM 10630 inhibited the growth of L. pneumophila on agar plates. Analysis of the P. alcaliphila genome revealed the presence of a genes cluster predicted to produce toxoflavin. L. pneumophila growth was inhibited by pure toxoflavin and by extract from P. alcaliphila culture found to contain toxoflavin by LC-ESI-MS. In addition, toxoflavin inhibits growth of Vermameoba vermiformis, a host cell of L. pneumophila. Our study indicates that P. alcaliphila may be important to restrict growth of L. pneumophila in water systems through the production of toxoflavin. A sufficiently high concentration is likely not achieved in the bulk water but might have a local inhibitory effect such as in biofilm.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roberto Gozalbo-Rovira ◽  
Antonio Rubio-del-Campo ◽  
Cristina Santiso-Bellón ◽  
Susana Vila-Vicent ◽  
Javier Buesa ◽  
...  

AbstractThe gut microbiota has emerged as a key factor in the pathogenesis of intestinal viruses, including enteroviruses, noroviruses and rotaviruses (RV), where stimulatory and inhibitory effects on infectivity have been reported. With the aim of determining whether members of the microbiota interact with RV during infection, a combination of anti-RV antibody labelling, fluorescence-activated cell sorting and 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing was used to characterize the interaction between specific bacteria and RV in stool samples of children suffering diarrhea produced by G1P[8] RV. The genera Ruminococcus and Oxalobacter were identified as RV binders in stools, displaying enrichments between 4.8 to 5.4-fold compared to samples non-labelled with anti-RV antibodies. In vitro binding of the G1P[8] Wa human RV strain to two Ruminococcus gauvreauii human isolates was confirmed by fluorescence microscopy. Analysis in R. gauvreauii with antibodies directed to several histo-blood group antigens (HBGA) indicated that these bacteria express HBGA-like substances at their surfaces that can be the target for RV binding. Furthermore, in vitro infection of Wa strain in differentiated Caco-2 cells was significantly reduced by incubation with R. gauvreauii. These data, together with previous findings that had shown a negative correlation between Ruminococcus levels and antibody titers to RV in healthy individuals, suggest a pivotal interaction between this bacterial group and human RV. These results reveal likely mechanisms on how specific bacterial taxa of the intestinal microbiota could negatively affect RV infection and open new possibilities for anti-viral strategies.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emma Diamond ◽  
Katharine Hewlett ◽  
Swathi Penumutchu ◽  
Alexei Belenky ◽  
Peter Belenky

The microbiome is essential for host health, and perturbations resulting from antibiotic use can lead to dysbiosis and disease. Diet can be a powerful modulator of microbiome composition and function, with the potential to mitigate the negative effects of antibiotic use. Thus, it is necessary to study the impacts of diet and drug interactions on the gut microbiome. Coffee is a commonly consumed beverage containing many compounds that have the potential to affect the microbiome, including caffeine, polyphenols, and fiber. We supplemented mice with caffeinated and decaffeinated coffee in conjunction with amoxicillin, and used 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing of fecal samples to investigate changes in diversity and composition of the murine fecal microbiome. We found that antibiotics, regardless of coffee supplementation, caused significant disruption to the murine fecal microbiome, enriching for Proteobacteria, Verrucomicrobia, and Bacteroidetes, but reducing Firmicutes. While we found that coffee alone did not have a significant impact on the composition of the fecal microbiome, coffee supplementation did significantly affect relative abundance metrics in mice treated with amoxicillin. After caffeinated coffee supplementation, mice treated with amoxicillin showed a smaller increase in Proteobacteria, specifically of the family Burkholderiaceae. Correspondingly we found that in vitro, Burkholderia cepacia was highly resistant to amoxicillin, and that it was inhibited by concentrations of caffeine and caffeinated coffee comparable to levels of caffeine in murine ceca. Overall, this work shows that coffee, and possibly the caffeine component, can impact both the microbiome and microbiome members during antibiotic exposure.


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