Gut redox potential affects host susceptibility to pathogen infection

Abstract

Redox potential is a key environmental indicator in the gut and also significantly affects host health. To study the influence of gut redox potential on the infection of hosts by pathogen, we employed zebrafish and common carp as animal models to investigate the relationship between gut redox potential and host susceptibility. Our results proved that gut redox potential was significantly elevated after host infection with pathogenic bacteria. Moreover, the level of reactive oxygen species (ROS) was significantly and positively correlated with gut redox potential. Reduction of the gut redox potential with antioxidants significantly improved host resistance to pathogen infections. In addition, when the host was infected with pathogen, the reduction of gut redox potential could improve survival. Interestingly, the combination of antioxidants and low concentrations of antibiotics could achieve a similar therapeutic effect to that of a single high concentration of antibiotics by reducing the gut redox potential. Overall, this study proved that altered redox potential could aid in the host resistance to infection, and also provides new perspectives for the treatment of pathogen infections.