Regulatory effects of traditional Chinese medicine on intestinal flora

doi:10.5246/jcps.2020.03.014

Abstract

Abstract:

Two traditional Chinese medicines (TCMs), namely WangshiBaochiwan and Panax Notoginseng Saponins (notoginsenoside),were chosen to study their effects on gut microbiota. Both of them have a long history of application in China. During a test of 28 d, different doses of the medicines were administered to male Wistar rats daily. At the end of the administration, fresh fecal samples were collected and subjected to 16S rRNA sequencing to determine the profiles of gut microbiota. In relative to the controls, effects on gut microbiota were evaluated with medicine-treated rats. Consistent with its unique bidirectional effects on constipation and diarrhea, treatment of WangshiBaochiwan led to a balanced regulation of Lactobacillus and Bacteroides. The treatment also led to increased populations of Ruminiclostridium_9 and Eubacterium_ventriosum that are the major producer of short-chain fatty acid (SCFA), and decreased populations of genus Jeotgalicoccus and Bilophila that are associated with inflammation. These changes therefore resulted in a much healthier microbiota environment in WangshiBaochiwan-treated rates. For the treatmentof notoginsenoside, effects were found with Enterobacteriaceae species that is associated with Parkinson's disease, Christensenellaceaefamily that is associated with aging, and hypertension-associated Rikenellaceae, Christensenellaceae, Lachnospiraceae and Bacteroidaceae species. In agreement with its major indications, the treatment further led to increased populations of SCFA-producingbacteria, such as Elusimicrobium, Anaerotruncus, Ruminococcaceae_NK4A214_group, and Intestinimonas. Taken together, treatment of the two TCMs led to active and distinguishable regulations of gut microbiota. Impressively, these changes were in agreement with their clinical efficacy, and suggested that they were involved in the treatment of these diseases.

Key words: Intestinal flora, Traditional Chinese medicine, Deep sequencing

CLC Number:

R962

Supporting:

Supplementary Table 1. Effect of total saponins of Panax notoginseng, JinghuaBaochi Pills and antibiotics on organ coefficient of mice (g/100g, ±s, n = 5)

The heart, liver, spleen, lung and kidney coefficient of mice were compared, and the liver weight of antibiotic group was significantly changed (^*P<0.05).The control group (group C), the low-medium-high dose group (J_low, J_middle, J_high group) of JinghuaBaochi Wan, the low-medium-high dose group of Panax notoginseng saponins (P_low, P_middle, P_high group) and the antibiotic group (A_group)

Supplementary Figure 1. Wilcoxon rank sum test of the control group and the JinghuaBaochi pill administration group. The vertical axis represents the species name at a certain classification level, each column corresponding to the species represents the average relative abundance of the species in each sample group, and the different colors indicate different groupings. The rightmost side is the P value, ^*0.01<P≤0.05, ^**0.001<P≤0.01, ^***P≤0.001.Test method wilcoxon rank sum test, two-tail test, multiple test correction fdr, significance level less than 0.05 bacteria are shown in this figure.

Supplementary Figure 2. Rank sum test of Panax notoginseng saponins group and control group. The vertical axis represents the species name at a certain classification level, each column corresponding to the species represents the average relative abundance of the species in each sample group, and the different colors indicate different groupings. The rightmost side is the P value, ^*0.01<P≤0.05, ^**0.001<P≤0.01, ^***P≤0.001. Red indicates a control group (group C), and blue indicates a drug-administered group (group P).

Sicong Tian, Jing Xue, Hui Song, Quan Du. Regulatory effects of traditional Chinese medicine on intestinal flora[J]. Journal of Chinese Pharmaceutical Sciences, 2020, 29(3): 161-175.

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