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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Pharmacol.
Sec. Gastrointestinal and Hepatic Pharmacology
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fphar.2024.1494210

Multi-omics reveals the alleviating effect of berberine on ulcerative colitis through modulating the gut microbiome and bile acid metabolism in the gut-liver axis

Provisionally accepted
Jingsheng Yu Jingsheng Yu 1*Yixuan Zheng Yixuan Zheng 2Changmin Liu Changmin Liu 2Zhuangyuan Xie Zhuangyuan Xie 2Qingqing Liu Qingqing Liu 2Shuai Yang Shuai Yang 2Qianqian Tian Qianqian Tian 3Chi Song Chi Song 2*Shilin Chen Shilin Chen 1,2*
  • 1 Institute of Chinese Materia Medica, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing, China
  • 2 Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China
  • 3 The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong, SAR China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    The dysfunction of gut microbiome and bile acid metabolism might cause the incidence and relapse of ulcerative colitis (UC). Thus, natural products have been considered effective for UC through the regulation of gut microbiome and bile acid. In this study, we evaluated the regulatory effect of berberine on gut microbiome and bile acid metabolism in UC. Results showed that the relative abundances of beneficial bacteria showed a decreasing trend in the UC model, and the taurine conjugated bile acids increased from the liver tissue to the colon tissue. Berberine inhibited the colonization of harmful bacteria and promoted the primary bile acid metabolism. Moreover, we used multi-omics technology (metagenomics, metabolomics, and transcriptomics technology) to reveal that berberine restored the intestinal barrier function through bile acid/S1PR2/RhoA/ROCK pathway. The result of transmission electron microscopy directly showed that the damaged intestinal mucosal barrier was repaired through the berberine treatment. This study revealed the treatment influence on UC through multi-omics technology in vitro and in vivo models, which provides references for explaining the mechanism of berberine on UC.

    Keywords: ulcerative colitis, Berberine, gut microbiome, Bile acid, s1pr2, intestinal barrier

    Received: 10 Sep 2024; Accepted: 14 Oct 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Yu, Zheng, Liu, Xie, Liu, Yang, Tian, Song and Chen. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence:
    Jingsheng Yu, Institute of Chinese Materia Medica, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing, China
    Chi Song, Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chengdu, 610075, Sichuan Province, China
    Shilin Chen, Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chengdu, 610075, Sichuan Province, China

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.