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Effect of Intestinal Microbiota Alteration on Hepatic Damage in Rats with Acute Rejection After Liver Transplantation

  • Host Microbe Interactions
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Abstract

The previous studies all focus on the effect of probiotics and antibiotics on infection after liver transplantation. Here, we focus on the effect of gut microbiota alteration caused by probiotics and antibiotics on hepatic damage after allograft liver transplantation. Brown-Norway rats received saline, probiotics, or antibiotics via daily gavage for 3 weeks. Orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) was carried out after 1 week of gavage. Alteration of the intestinal microbiota, liver function and histopathology, serum and liver cytokines, and T cells in peripheral blood and Peyer’s patch were evaluated. Distinct segregation of fecal bacterial diversity was observed in the probiotic group and antibiotic group when compared with the allograft group. As for diversity of intestinal mucosal microbiota and pathology of intestine at 2 weeks after OLT, antibiotics and probiotics had a significant effect on ileum and colon. The population of Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium in the probiotic group was significantly greater than the antibiotic group and the allograft group. The liver injury was significantly reduced in the antibiotic group and the probiotic group compared with the allograft group. The CD4/CD8 and Treg cells in Peyer’s patch were decreased in the antibiotic group. The intestinal Treg cell and serum and liver TGF-β were increased markedly while CD4/CD8 ratio was significantly decreased in the probiotic group. It suggested that probiotics mediate their beneficial effects through increase of Treg cells and TGF-β and deduction of CD4/CD8 in rats with acute rejection (AR) after OLT.

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Abbreviations

OLT:

Orthotopic liver transplantation

AR:

Acute rejection

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by the National Keystone Basic Research Program (973 Program), China (2013CB531401, 2007CB513000), and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities, China (2013XZZX00).

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory for Diagnosis and Treatment of Infectious Diseases, The First Affiliated Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Collaborative Innovation Center for Diagnosis and Treatment of Infectious Diseases, Hangzhou, China

    Yirui Xie, Biao Zhu, Nan Qin, Yunbo Chen, Min Deng, Haiyin Jiang, Xiangfei Xu, Jiezuan Yang, Bing Ruan & Lanjuan Li

  2. Department of Infectious Diseases, Hospital Affiliated to Wenzhou Medical College, Linhai, China

    Huazhong Chen

  3. Department of Infectious Diseases, Shenzhen Children’s Hospital, Shenzhen, China

    Zhengfeng Li

  4. Department of Infectious Diseases, The First Affiliated Hospital of Medical School, Zhejiang University, 79 QingChun Road, Hangzhou, China, 310003

    Bing Ruan & Lanjuan Li

Authors
  1. Yirui Xie
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  2. Huazhong Chen
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  3. Biao Zhu
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  4. Nan Qin
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  5. Yunbo Chen
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  7. Min Deng
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  8. Haiyin Jiang
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  9. Xiangfei Xu
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  10. Jiezuan Yang
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  11. Bing Ruan
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  12. Lanjuan Li
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Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Bing Ruan or Lanjuan Li.

Additional information

Yirui Xie and Huazhong Chen contributed equally to this work.

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Xie, Y., Chen, H., Zhu, B. et al. Effect of Intestinal Microbiota Alteration on Hepatic Damage in Rats with Acute Rejection After Liver Transplantation. Microb Ecol 68, 871–880 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00248-014-0452-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00248-014-0452-z

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