The Panda-Derived Lactobacillus plantarum G201683 Alleviates the Inflammatory Response in DSS-Induced Panda Microbiota-Associated Mice.

Yi Zhou,Kangcheng Pan,Jing Fang,Lili Niu,Jonathan P Jacobs,Xueqin Ni,Ling Duan,Abdul Khalique,Dong Zeng,Jie Wang,Candace Chang,Yang Pu,Bo Jing,Yan Zeng

doi:10.3389/fimmu.2021.747045

Abstract

Intestinal diseases are one of the main causes of captive giant panda death. Their special dietary habits and gastrointestinal tract structure often lead to intestinal epithelium damage and secondary intestinal infection. The captive giant panda is predisposed to suffer from microbiota dysbiosis due to long-term artificial feeding and antibiotic misuse. However, there are few reported probiotics to treat giant panda enteritis and the associated dysbiosis. This study aims to elucidate the mechanism by which Lactobacillus plantarum G201683 (L. plantarum G83), a promising panda-derived probiotic, exerts a protective effect on intestinal inflammation in the dextran sulfate sodium- (DSS) induced panda microbiota-associated (DPMA) mouse model. The DPMA mouse was generated by antibiotic treatment and 5% DSS drinking water administration to assess the effect of L. plantarum G83 on intestinal inflammation and microbiota in vivo. Our results demonstrated the successful generation of a DPMA mouse model with Enterobacteriaceae enrichment, consistent with the giant panda intestinal microbiota. L. plantarum G83 decreased clinical and histological severity of intestinal inflammation, enhanced intestinal tight junction protein expression (ZO-1, Occludin) and alleviated inflammatory cytokine production (TNF-) in the colon of DPMA mice. The administration of L. plantarum G83 altered the microbiota composition by decreasing pathogen associated taxa such as E. coli and increasing abundance of beneficial bacteria including Bifidobacterium spp. These changes in microbiota composition were associated with an increased concentration of short chain fatty acids (SCFA), reduced NF-κB signaling, and an altered balance of T helper cell subsets. Our findings support L. plantarum G83 as a promising probiotic to treat intestinal inflammation in the giant panda.

Highlights

The giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca), belonging to the carnivorous family Ursidae, is the “flagship” animal of the World Wildlife Fund
This study aims to elucidate the mechanism by which Lactobacillus plantarum G201683 (L. plantarum G83), a promising panda-derived probiotic, exerts a protective effect on intestinal inflammation in the dextran sulfate sodium- (DSS) induced panda microbiotaassociated (DPMA) mouse model
Based on prior reports that Lactobacillus strains can enhance intestinal barrier function, we investigated whether the pandaderived L. plantarum G83 strain would have this effect on the DSS-induced giant panda microbiota-associated (DPMA)-mouse model

Summary

Introduction

The giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca), belonging to the carnivorous family Ursidae, is the “flagship” animal of the World Wildlife Fund. Giant pandas have a carnivorelike gut microbiota, they are “vegetarians” and rely on bamboo as their main diet [1]. They maintain a distinctive intestinal microbiota dominated by Streptococcus, Clostridium, and Enterobacteriaceae [2]. While antibiotics are widely used to treat intestinal infections in the giant panda, recent studies have demonstrated widespread antibiotic resistance among fecal isolates of Escherichia coli (E. coli), a prominent member of the Enterobacteriacae family. 89 E. coli isolates from panda feces [5] showed drug resistance with a frequency of 54 to 93% resistance to individual antibiotics. Widespread drug-resistance is a plausible threat to pandas as well as other captive animals

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