Berberine ameliorates aGVHD by gut microbiota remodelling, TLR4 signalling suppression and colonic barrier repairment for NLRP3 inflammasome inhibition
Abstract
Berberine (BBR), an isoquinoline alkaloid, is used to treat gastrointestinal disorders as an herbal medicine in China. The aim of this study was to investigate the anti-inflammatory activities of BBR in a mouse model with acute graft-versus-host disease (aGVHD). Mice were intravenously injected with bone marrow cells from donors combined with splenocytes to develop aGVHD. The body weight, survival rate and clinical scores were monitored. Then the levels of inflammatory cytokines, histological changes (lung, liver and colon), colonic mucosal barrier and gut microbiota were analysed. Moreover, the toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4)/myeloid differentiation primary response gene 88 (Myd88)/nuclear factor-κB signalling pathway, NLRP3 inflammasome and its cytokines' expressions were determined. The results showed that the gavage of BBR lessened GVHD-induced weight loss, high mortality and clinical scores, inhibited inflammation and target organs damages and prevented GVHD-indued colonic barrier damage. Additionally, BBR modulated gut microbiota, suppressed the activation of the TLR4 signaling pathway and inhibited NLRP3 inflammasome and its cytokine release. This study indicated that BBR might be a potential therapy for aGVHD through NLRP3 inflammasome inhibition.
Read the paper
Related studies
- Bile Acid 7α-Dehydroxylating Gut Bacteria Secrete Antibiotics that Inhibit Clostridium difficile: Role of Secondary Bile Acids
- Ketogenic diet alleviates colitis by reduction of colonic group 3 innate lymphoid cells through altering gut microbiome
- Altered gut microbiome composition and function are associated with gut barrier dysfunction in healthy relatives of patients with Crohn's disease
- Diet, obesity, and the gut microbiome as determinants modulating metabolic outcomes in a non-human primate model
- Immune Impairment Associated with Vitamin A Deficiency: Insights from Clinical Studies and Animal Model Research
- Glyphosate-based herbicides influence antioxidants, reproductive hormones and gut microbiome but not reproduction: A long-term experiment in an avian model
Go deeper in Evidence Hub
Evidence Hub adds a study data sheet (design, sample size, evidence level, key numbers), an AI summary and a chat grounded in the paper's text.