Gut Microbiota-Related Effects of Tanhuo Decoction in Acute Ischemic Stroke

• Type of Material: Article
• Authors: Qian Guo, Peking University; Xiaoqing Jiang, Peking University; Can Ni, Peking University; Linjig Li, Beijing Chaoyang Integrative Emergency Medical Center; Li Chen, Peking University; Yaqi Wang, Peking University; Mo Li, Peking University; Chunhui Wang, Peking University; Li Gao, Xuanwu Hospital, Capital Medical University; Huaiqiu Zhu, Emory University; Juexian Song, Xuanwu Hospital, Capital Medical University
• Language: English
• Date: 2021-01-01
• Publisher: Hindawi
• Publication Version: Final Published Version
• Copyright Statement: © 2021 Qian Guo et al.
• License: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
• Final Published Version (URL): http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2021/5596924
• Title of Journal or Parent Work: Oxidative Medicine and Cellular Longevity
• Volume: 2021
• Start Page: 5596924
• End Page: 5596924
• Grant/Funding Information: This work was supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2017YFC1200205), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (32070667 and 31671366), the Key Special Project of Ministry of Science and Technology Research on modernization of Traditional Chinese Medicine (2019YFC1712400), and the Science and Technology Program of Beijing (Z171100001717012).
• Keywords: Prospective Studies; Drugs, Chinese Herbal; Acute Disease; Gastrointestinal Microbiome; Case-Control Studies; Humans; Treatment Outcome; Ischemic Stroke
• Research Categories: Engineering, Biomedical

Abstract

Acute ischemic stroke (AIS) is a major cause of acquired adult disability and death. Our previous studies proved the efficacy and effectiveness of Tanhuo decoction (THD) on AIS. However, the therapeutic mechanism remains unclear. We recruited 49 AIS patients and 30 healthy people to explore the effects of THD+basic treatment on the poststroke gut microbiota of AIS patients using 16S rRNA sequencing, in which 23 patients received basic treatment (control group) and 26 patients received THD+basic treatment (THD group). By comparing the data before and after treatments, we found the THD group acquired better outcome than the control group on both clinical outcome indices and the characteristics of gut microbiota. In addition to the mediation on short-chain fatty acid- (SCFA-) producing bacteria in two groups, treatment in the THD group significantly decreased the lipopolysaccharide- (LPS-) producing bacteria to reduce LPS biosynthesis. Besides, the complexity of the cooccurrence of gut microbiota and the competition among LPS-producing bacteria and opportunistic pathogenetic bacteria were enhanced in the THD group. Treatment in the THD group also exhibited the potential in decreasing genes on the biosynthesis of trimethylamine (TMA), the precursor of Trimethylamine N-oxide (TMAO), and increasing genes on the degradation of TMA, especially increasing trimethylamine-corrinoid protein Co-methyltransferase (mttB) which catabolizes TMA to methane. These results hinted that THD+basic treatment might exert its efficacy by mediating the gut microbiota and microbial metabolites, including LPS and TMAO that aggravate the sterile inflammation and platelet aggregation. Moreover, the well-fitting regression model results in predicting the clinical outcome with the alteration of gut microbiota proved gut microbiota as a potential indicator of AIS and provided evidence of the communication between the gut and brain of AIS patients.