Oral administration of a product derived from Clostridium butyricum in rats

Inhibitory effects of Clostridium butyricum culture and supernatant on inflammatory colorectal cancer in mice

Clostridium butyricum (CB) is a spore-forming, gram-positive and obligate anaerobic rod bacterium. CB can modulate the composition of the gut microbiome and promote the growth of beneficial microbes in the intestine by generating short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs), which in turn protect against colitis and prevents the formation of inflammatory-associated colorectal cancer (CRC) by ameliorating colon inflammatory processes. Yet, it remains unclear whether the culture and supernatant of CB could directly influence inflammatory CRC in mice. In this study, azoxymethane (AOM)+dextran sodium sulphate (DSS) was used to induce CRC model in C57BL/6 mice. Next, the serum levels of inflammatory cytokines, including interleukin-6 (IL-6), interleukin-10 (IL-10), and cytokines TNF-α, were measured and the pathohistological examination of the large intestine was performed. Both CB culture and supernatant were found to have anti-inflammatory properties. Subsequently, Western blot and Real-Time Quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) revealed that CB and supernatant regulate the NF-κB/p65 pathway to inhibit the development and progression of inflammatory CRC in AOM+DSS-treated mice, which could be due to the high levels of butyric acid in the supernatant.

The pleiotropic of GLP-1/GLP-1R axis in central nervous system diseases

Glucagon-like peptide-1(GLP-1) is a multifunctional polypeptide throughout the lifespan via activating Glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor (GLP-1R).GLP-1 can affect food ingestion, enhance the secretion of insulin from pancreatic islets induced by glucose and be utilized to treat type 2 diabetes mellitus(T2DM).But, accumulating evidences from the decades suggest that activation GLP-1R can not only regulate the blood glucose, but also sustain the homeostasis of intracellular environment and protect neuron from various damaged responses such as oxidative stress, inflammation, excitotoxicity, ischemia and so on. And more and more pre-clinical and clinical studies identified that GLP-1 and its analogues may play a significant role in improving multiple central nervous system (CNS) diseases including neurodegenerative diseases, epilepsy, mental disorders, ischemic stroke, hemorrhagic stroke, traumatic brain injury, spinal cord injury, chronic pain, addictive disorders, other diseases neurological complications and so on. In order to better reveal the relationship between GLP-1/GLP-1R axis and the growth, development and survival of neurons, herein, this review is aimed to summarize the multi-function of GLP-1/GLP-1R axis in CNS diseases.

Effect of Clostridium butyricum Supplementation on in vitro Rumen Fermentation and Microbiota With High Grain Substrate Varying With Media pH Levels

Clostridium butyricum (C. butyricum) can survive at low pH, and it has been widely used as an alternative to antibiotics for the improvement of feed efficiency and animal health in monogastrics. A recent study suggested that the improved ruminal fermentation with supplementing C. butyricum is may be associated with increasing the abundance of rumen microbiota in Holstein heifers, as ruminal pH plays a key role in rumen microbiota and the probiotics are often active in a dose-dependent manner. The objective of this study was to determine the effects of increasing the doses of C. butyricum on gas production (GP) kinetics, dry matter disappearance (DMD), fermentation characteristics, and rumen microbiota using a high grain substrate in batch culture varying with media pH levels. The doses of C. butyricum were supplemented at 0 (control), 0.5 × 106, 1 × 106, and 2 × 106 CFU/bottle, respectively, at either media pH 6.0 or pH 6.6. The fermentation microbiota at 0 and 1 × 106 CFU/bottle were determined using the 16S rRNA high throughput sequencing technology. Overall, the GP, DMD, total volatile fatty acid (VFA) concentration, and the ratio of acetate:propionate were higher (P <0.01) at media pH 6.6 than at pH 6.0. However, there was interaction between pH × dose of C. butyricum for rate constant of GP (P = 0.01), average GP rate (P = 0.07), and volume of GP (P = 0.06); with the increase in C. butyricum supplementation, the GP kinetics were not changed at media pH 6.0, but the volume (P = 0.02), rate of GP (P = 0.01), and average GP rate (P = 0.01) were quadratically changed at media pH 6.6. The DMD was not affected by increasing the supplementation of C. butyricum. The molar proportions of propionate (P <0.09), butyrate (P <0.06), and NH3-N concentration (P = 0.02) were quadratically changed with increasing supplementation of C. butyricum regardless of media pH levels. The interactions between media pH level and dose of C. butyricum supplementation were noticed for alpha diversity indexes of Shannon (P = 0.02) and Evenness (P = 0.04). The alpha diversity indexes increased (P <0.05) except for Chao1 with supplementation of C. butyricum. The unweighted uniFrac analysis showed that the group of control at media pH 6.0 and control at media pH 6.6, and supplementation of C. butyricum and control at media pH 6.0 clustered separately from each other. At the phylum level, relative abundance (RA) of Bacteroidota was lower (P <0.01) and Firmicutes was higher (P <0.01) at media pH 6.6 than pH 6.0. Moreover, RA of Proteobacteria decreased (P <0.05) with supplemented C. butyricum at either media pH 6.6 or pH 6.0. At media pH 6.6, RA of Rikenellaceae_RC9_gut_group and Prevotella were decreased, and CAG-352 was increased (at genus level) compared to pH 6.0. Supplementation of C. butyricum decreased RA of Rikenellaceae_RC9_gut_group and increased CAG-352 at media pH 6.0. It could hence be concluded that manipulating media pH level and supplementation of C. butyricum effectively modulated in vitro rumen fermentation characteristics and microbiota but in a dose depending manner of C. butyricum addition.

Effects of Dietary Supplementation With Clostridium butyricum on Growth Performance, Apparent Digestibility, Blood Metabolites, Ruminal Fermentation and Bacterial Communities of Fattening Goats

Clostridium butyricum (C. butyricum) is currently widely used to improve the body health and productive performance of monogastric animals. However, there have been few reports on the effects and specific mechanism of action of Clostridium butyricum in ruminants. This study aimed to investigate the effects of Clostridium butyricum supplementation on the growth performance and digestive microbiota of fattening goats. Twenty-four healthy male Albas goats (body weight = 22 ± 2.03 kg) were randomly divided into 3 treatment groups with eight goats in each group. The treatments were as follows: control group (CON) (basal diet, concentrate to forage ratio = 65:35); low-dose Clostridium butyricum (LCB) (basal diet plus 2.0 × 10⁸ CFU/kg Clostridium butyricum); and high-dose Clostridium butyricum (HCB) (basal diet plus 1.0 × 10⁹ CFU/kg Clostridium butyricum). The experiment lasted for 8 weeks after a 2-week adaptation period. Therefore, growth performance and rumen and rectum microbiota were evaluated in goats supplemented with Clostridium butyricum and its metabolites. The results showed that dietary supplementation with Clostridium butyricum significantly increased the pH (P < 0.05), but had no significant effect on growth performance (P > 0.05). Compared with the control group, dietary Clostridium butyricum supplementation significantly increased the relative abundance of Prevotella_1, Christensenellaceae AE_R-7_Group and Prevotellaceae AE_UCG-003 (P < 0.05), and significantly decreased Succiniclasticum and Muribaculaceae_unclassified (P < 0.05). The relative abundance of Clostridium in the rumen was <1.0%. Moreover, 16S rDNA analysis showed that the fecal Clostridium or Clostridium butyricum count was significantly decreased (P < 0.05), and the relative abundance of Alistipes and Akkermansia was increased (P < 0.10) in the low-dose group compared with the control group. Supplementing Clostridium butyricum in a high-concentrate diet did not significantly affect the performance of goats, while regulation of the gastrointestinal microbiota and related metabolites was associated with rumen fermentation.

Effects of Dietary Supplementation With Clostridium butyricum on the Amelioration of Growth Performance, Rumen Fermentation, and Rumen Microbiota of Holstein Heifers

In China, the use of antibiotics growth promoters as feed additives has been banned. The goal of raising dairy heifers is to gain a relatively high body weight on a high-fiber diet at first mating or calving, thus increasing economic benefits. The objective of this experiment was to explore the effects of supplemental Clostridium butyricum (C. butyricum) on growth performance, rumen fermentation and microbiota, and blood parameters in Holstein heifers. Twenty Holstein heifers [mean ± standard deviation (SD); age = 182 ± 4.20 d, body weight = 197.53 ± 5.94 kg, dry matter intake (DMI) = 6.10 ± 0.38 kg] were randomly assigned to one of two diets group for a 42-day feeding period: (1) basal diet (an untreated control group, i.e., the CON group) or (2) basal diet plus daily 2 × 10⁸ (colony-forming unit, CFU) of C. butyricum per kg of DMI per heifer (the CB group). The results demonstrated that C. butyricum supplementation increased the average daily gain from d 21 to 42 and DMI compared to the control group. Supplementation with C. butyricum significantly decreased the molar proportion of acetate and the acetate to propionate ratio but increased the molar proportion of butyrate and propionate. Compared with the control group, the relative abundance of Butyrivibrio fibrisolvens, Ruminococcus albus, Ruminobacter amylophilus, Ruminococcus flavefaciens, and Streptococcus bovis increased during the trial period in the CB group. However, C. butyricum had no significant effect on the blood parameters in Holstein heifers. In conclusion, these results show that feeding C. butyricum can improve growth performance and rumen fermentation without any negative impact on blood parameters in Holstein heifers.

Overexpression of pEGF improved the gut protective function of Clostridium butyricum partly through STAT3 signal pathway

Clostridium butyricum (C. butyricum) is a probiotic that could promote animal growth and protect gut health. So far, current studies mainly keep up with the basic biological functions of C. butyricum, missing the effective strategy to further improve its protective efficiency. A recent report about C. butyricum alleviating intestinal injury through epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) inspired us to bridge this gap by porcine epidermal growth factor (EGF) overexpression. Lacking a secretory overexpression system, we constructed the recombinant strains overexpressing pEGF in C. butyricum for the first time and obtained 4 recombinant strains for highly efficient secretion of pEGF (BC/pPD1, BC/pSPP, BC/pGHF, and BC/pDBD). Compared to the wild-type strain, we confirmed that the expression level ranges of the intestinal development-related genes (Claudin-1, GLUT-2, SUC, GLP2R, and EGFR) and anti-inflammation-related gene (IL-10) in IPECs were upregulated under recombinant strain stimulation, and the growth of Staphylococcus aureus and Salmonella typhimurium was significantly inhibited as well. Furthermore, a particular inhibitor (stattic) was used to block STAT3 tyrosine phosphorylation, resulting in the downregulation on antibacterial effect of recombinant strains. This study demonstrated that the secretory overexpression of pEGF in C. butyricum could upregulate the expression level of EGFR, consequently improving the intestinal protective functions of C. butyricum partly following STAT3 signal activation in IPECs and making it a positive loop. These findings on the overexpression strains pointed out a new direction for further development and utilization of C. butyricum. KEY POINTS: • By 12 signal peptide screening in silico, 4 pEGF overexpression strains of C. butyricum/pMTL82151-pEGF for highly efficient secretion of pEGF were generated for the first time. • The secretory overexpression of pEGF promoted the intestinal development, antimicrobial action, and anti-inflammatory function of C. butyricum. • The overexpressed pEGF upregulated the expression level of EGFR and further magnified the gut protective function of recombinant strains which in turn partly depended on STAT3 signal pathway in IPECs.

Effects of Dietary Supplementation with Clostridium butyricum on Growth Performance, Serum Immunity, Intestinal Morphology, and Microbiota as an Antibiotic Alternative in Weaned Piglets

This study investigated the effects of Clostridium butyricum (C. butyricum) use on growth performance, serum immunity, intestinal morphology, and microbiota as an antibiotic alternative in weaned piglets. Over the course of 28 days, 120 piglets were allocated to four treatments with six replicates of five piglets each. The treatments were: CON (basal diet); AGP (basal diet supplemented with 0.075 g/kg chlortetracycline, 0.055 g/kg kitasamycin, and 0.01 g/kg virginiamycin); CBN (basal diet supplemented with normal dosage of 2.5 × 10⁸ CFU/kg C. butyricum); and CBH (basal diet supplemented with high dosage of 2.5 × 10⁹ CFU/kg C. butyricum). Body weight (BW) and feed consumption were recorded at the beginning and on days 14 and 28 of the experiment, and representative feed samples and fresh feces were collected from each pen between days 26 and 28. Average fecal score of diarrhea was visually assessed each morning during the experimental period. On the morning of days 14 and 28, blood samples were collected to prepare serum for immune and antioxidant parameters measurement. One male piglet close to the average group BW was selected from each replicate and was slaughtered on day 21 of the experiment. Intestinal crypt villi, and colonic microbiota and its metabolites short-chain fatty acids were measured. Compared to the CON group, the CBN and AGP groups significantly decreased (p < 0.05) the ratio of feed to weight gain by 8.86% and 8.37% between days 1 and 14, 3.96% and 13.36% between days 15 and 28, 5.47% and 11.44% between days 1 and 28. Dietary treatment with C. butyricum and AGPs significantly decreased the average fecal score during the experimental period (p < 0.05). The apparent total tract digestibility of dry matter, organic matter, and total carbohydrates in the CBH group were higher respectively at 3.27%, 2.90%, and 2.97%, than those in the CON or AGP groups (p < 0.05). Compared to the CON group, the CBH group significantly increased short-chain fatty acids in colon and villus height in the jejunum (p < 0.05). The CBN group had higher serum levels of immunoglobulins, interleukin 2 (IL-2), and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-PX) activity, but lower serum levels of IL-1β and IL-6, and a lower aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), and gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase (γ-GT) activity (p < 0.05), while compared to the CON group. Dietary treatment with C. butyricum significantly increased the relative abundance of Streptococcus and Bifidobacterium (p < 0.05). In summary, diet with C. butyricum increased the growth performance and benefited the health of weaned piglets.

Therapeutic effects of Clostridium butyricum on experimental colitis induced by oxazolone in rats

AIM: To evaluate the therapeutic effects of a probiotic supplement (Clostridium butyricum, CGMCC0313) in a chemically-induced rat model of experimental colitis.

METHODS: An experimental ulcerative colitis model was established by rectal injection of oxazolone into the colon of 40 Wistar rats randomly divided into four groups. The positive control group was sacrificed 3 d after colitis onset. The remaining groups were fed daily with either 2 mL of C. butyricum (2.3 × 10¹¹ CFU/L), 2 mL of mesalamine (100 g/L), or 1 mL of sodium butyrate (50 mmol/L) for 21 d. The animals’ body weight, behavior, and bowel movements were recorded weekly. After sacrifice, visual and microscopic observations of pathological changes of colon tissue were made, body weight and wet colon mass index were measured and recorded, and serum levels of interleukin-23 (IL-23) and TNF-α were measured using ELISA. Expression of calcitonin gene-related peptide in colon tissue was measured by RT-PCR. Finally, changes in rat intestinal microflora status were measured in all groups.

RESULTS: We found that treatment with C. butyricum lowered the serum levels of both IL-23 and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) with similar or even better efficiency than that of mesalamine or sodium butyrate. The rat intestinal flora appeared to recover more quickly in the group treated with C. butyricum than in the mesalamine and sodium butyrate groups. Finally, we found that the expression level of calcitonin gene related peptide was elevated in colon tissue in the sodium butyrate treated group but not in the C. butyricum or mesalamine treated groups, indicating a sensitization of colon following sodium butyrate treatment.

CONCLUSION: In our experimental colitis model, treatment with C. butyricum CGMCC0313, a probiotic supplement, is at least as efficient as treatment with mesalamine.