Fusobacterium nucleatum-induced imbalance in microbiome-derived butyric acid levels promotes the occurrence and development of colorectal cancer

BACKGROUND Colorectal cancer(CRC)ranks among the most prevalent malignant tumors globally.Recent reports suggest that Fusobacterium nucleatum(F.nucleatum)contributes to the initiation,progression,and prognosis of CRC.Butyrate,a short-chain fatty acid derived from the bacterial fermentation of soluble dietary fiber,is known to inhibit various cancers.This study is designed to explore whether F.nucleatum influences the onset and progression of CRC by impacting the intestinal metabolite butyric acid.AIM To investigate the mechanism by which F.nucleatum affects CRC occurrence and development.METHODS Alterations in the gut microbiota of BALB/c mice were observed following the oral administration of F.nucleatum.Additionally,DLD-1 and HCT116 cell lines were exposed to sodium butyrate(NaB)and F.nucleatum in vitro to examine the effects on proliferative proteins and mitochondrial function.RESULTS Our research indicates that the prevalence of F.nucleatum in fecal samples from CRC patients is significantly greater than in healthy counterparts,while the prevalence of butyrate-producing bacteria is notably lower.In mice colonized with F.nucleatum,the population of butyrate-producing bacteria decreased,resulting in altered levels of butyric acid,a key intestinal metabolite of butyrate.Exposure to NaB can impair mitochondrial morphology and diminish mitochondrial membrane potential in DLD-1 and HCT116 CRC cells.Consequently,this leads to modulated production of adenosine triphosphate and reactive oxygen species,thereby inhibiting cancer cell prolif-eration.Additionally,NaB triggers the adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase(AMPK)signaling pathway,blocks the cell cycle in HCT116 and DLD-1 cells,and curtails the proliferation of CRC cells.The combined presence of F.nucleatum and NaB attenuated the effects of the latter.By employing small interfering RNA to suppress AMPK,it was demonstrated that AMPK is essential for NaB’s inhibition of CRC cell proliferation.CONCLUSION F.nucleatum can promote cancer progression through its inhibitory effect on butyric acid,via the AMPK signaling pathway.

Sodium butyrate alleviates fructose-induced non-alcoholic fatty liver disease by remodeling gut microbiota to promoteγ-amino butyric acid production

Sodium butyrate(NaB)can regulate lipid metabolism and inhibit hepatic steatosis.This study aimed to investigate whether NaB can alleviate fructose-induced hepat ic steatosis via remodeling the gut microbiota and evaluate the anti-fatty liver mechanisms.The results showed that NaB and NaB-remodeled gut microbiota significantly alleviated fructose-induced hepatic steatosis and increased plasma uric acid and fructose levels.Furthermore,both NaB and NaB-remodeled gut microbiota increased the abundance of Lactobacillus and altered the levels of plasma amino acids(upregulating gamma-amino butyric acid(GABA)and downregulating L-glutamic acid and L-arginine)in fructose-exposed mice.The correlation analysis showed that GABA levels positively correlated with Lactobacillus abundance,and increased GABA levels might promote the reduction of the hepatic triglyceride content.Further studies confirmed that GABA significantly reduced lipid deposition in mouse hepatocytes induced via fructose pretreatment in vitro.These findings suggested that NaB could ameliorate fructose-induced hepatic steatosis by regulating gut microbiota.

Effects of β-Amino Butyric Acid Induced Rice Blast Resistance on Reactive Oxygen Metabolism

[Objective] This study was to understand the effects of β-Amino butyric acid(abbreviated as BABA) induced rice blast resistance on reactive oxygen metabolism. [Method] Using the cultivar Chaochan 2 that is highly susceptible to disease as experimental material, the changes of catalase(CAT), and superoxide dismutase(SOD) and MDA activities in rice treated by BABA were investigated. [Result] In rice plants treated by BABA, the activities of CAT and SOD increased, meanwhile the MDA content also rose to some extent, resulting in the disease resistance to rice blast. [Conclusion] By influencing reactive oxygen metabolism, BABA endows rice plants with resistance to rice blast. BABA is safe to environment and has highly resistance-inducing capacity, it could be generalized in production.

Batch and fed-batch production of butyric acid by Clostridium butyricum ZJUCB

The production of butyric acid by Clostridium butyricum ZJUCB at various pH values was investigated. In order to study the effect of pH on cell growth, butyric acid biosynthesis and reducing sugar consumption, different cultivation pH values ranging from 6.0 to 7.5 were evaluated in 5-L bioreactor. In controlled pH batch fermentation, the optimum pH for cell growth and butyric acid production was 6.5 with a cell yield of 3.65 g/L and butyric acid yield of 12.25 g/L. Based on these results, this study then compared batch and fed-batch fermentation of butyric acid production at pH 6.5. Maximum value (16.74 g/L) of butyric acid concentration was obtained in fed-batch fermentation compared to 12.25 g/L in batch fermentation. It was concluded that culti- vation under fed-batch fermentation mode could enhance butyric acid production significantly (P<0.01) by C. butyricum ZJUCB.

Short communication Catalytic synthesis of butyric esters with TiSiW_(12)O_(40)/TiO_2

The catalytic activities of TiSiW_(12)O_(40)/TiO_2 in synthesizing ethylester; propyl ester, n-butyl ester; and amyl ester were reported. It was demonstrated thatTiSiW_(12)O_(40)/TiO_2 is an excellent catalyst. Various factors concerned with esterification wereinvestigated. The optimum conditions were found: the mole ratio of alcohol to acid is 1.3:1, themass ratio of catalyst to reactants is 1.5 percent, and the reaction time is 1.0 h. Under theoptimum conditions, the yields are 88.0 percent for ethyl ester, 94.5 percent for propyl ester, 98.6percent for n-butyl ester, 99.1 percent for n-amyl ester, and 96.7 percent for iso-amyl ester,respectively.

Efficient Separation of Butyric Acid by an Aqueous Two-phase System with Calcium Chloride

One of the bottlenecks for bioproduction of butyric acid as bulk chemical is the difficulty in separating butyric acid from the fermentation broth,compared with the petroleum-based chemical synthesis method.In the present work,a novel separation methodology was developed based on an aqueous two-phase system with inor-ganic salts.Calcium chloride was screened out for effective separation of butyric acid from butyric acid-water-salt systems.Within appropriate concentration range of butyric acid and salt,butyric acid was enriched in the upper phase and most of calcium ions remained in the lower phase.This"salting out"effect is very efficient to separate butyric acid from the simulated butyrate fermentation broth,which consists of butyric acid and acetic acid with concentration ratio of 4︰1,so that the final ratio of butyric acid/acetic acid in the upper phase is improved to 9.87. The aqueous two-phase system was used to separate butyric acid from the actual fermentation broth with satisfac-tory result.

Liquid-Liquid Equilibria of Water + Butyric Acid + Nonanol Ternary System

Liquid-liquid equilibrium (LLE) data for the water + butyric acid + nonanol system have been determined experimentally at the temperatures of 298.15 K, 308.15 K and 318.15 K. Tie-line compositions were correlated by Othmer-Tobias method. The universal quasichemical functional group activity coefficient (UNIFAC) and modified UNIFAC methods were used to predict the phase equilibrium in the system using the interaction parameters between CH3, CH2, COOH, OH and H2O functional groups. Distribution coefficients and separation factors were evaluated for the immiscibility region.

Cortical and subcortical gamma amino acid butyric acid deficits in anxiety and stress disorders:Clinical implications

Anxiety and stress disorders are a major public health issue. However, their pathophysiology is still unclear. The gamma amino acid butyric acid(GABA) neurochemical system has been strongly implicated in their pathogenesis and treatment by numerous preclinical and clinical studies, the most recent of which have been highlighted and critical review in this paper. Changes in cortical GABA appear related to normal personality styles and responses to stress. While there is accumulating animal and human neuroimaging evidence of cortical and subcortical GABA deficits across a number of anxiety conditions, a clear pattern of findings in specific brain regions for a given disorder is yet to emerge. Neuropsychiatric conditions with anxiety as a clinical feature may have GABA deficits as an underlying feature. Different classes of anxiolytic therapies support GABA function, and this may be an area in which newer GABA neuroimaging techniques could soon offer more personalized therapy. Novel GABAergic pharmacotherapies in development offer potential improvements over current therapies in reducing sedative and physiologic dependency effects, while offering rapid anxiolysis.

Seed Priming with Beta-Amino Butyric Acid Improves Abiotic Stress Tolerance in Rice Seedlings

We studied the influence of seed priming with beta-amino butyric acid（BABA） on the growth, physiological and biochemical parameters of seedlings with varied abiotic stress tolerance, which were raised and grown under unstressed and stressed（NaCl/PEG-6000） conditions. Under stressed conditions, the growth of rice seedlings was less when compared to control plants. After BABA priming, the seedling growth increased both under unstressed and stressed conditions as compared to the respective controls. BABA priming of rice seeds caused increase in the photosynthetic pigment content of the leaves, modified the chlorophyll a fluorescence related parameters and also enhanced the photosystem activities of seedlings when compared to their respective non-primed controls. BABA priming also caused increased mitochondrial activities of the rice seedlings. Moreover, BABA priming significantly reduced malondialdehyde content in the seedlings and also resulted in accumulation of proline especially in the NaCl tolerant variety Vyttila 6. BABA seed priming also enhanced the activity of nitrate reductase enzyme and activities of antioxidant enzymes like guaiacol peroxidase and superoxide dismutase. The presence of BABA was detected by high performance thin layer chromatography analysis in the rice seeds whereas in the seedlings it was not detected. Thus, it can be inferred that the seed priming effect of BABA mainly occurred within the seeds, which was further carried to the seedlings. It is concluded that BABA priming of seeds improved the drought and salinity stress tolerance of all the three rice varieties and it was significantly evident in the drought tolerant variety Vaisakh and NaCl tolerant variety Vyttila 6, when compared to the stress sensitive variety Neeraja.

Differential Effects of Butyric Acid on Mouse Skin Tumorigenesis

We studied the effects of butyric acid (BA) on mouse skin tumorigenesis using chronicanimal bioassays. Topical application of BA immediately after each treatment with 12-0-te-t radecanoyl phorbol-13-acetate (TPA) promoter' inhi bi ted skint umors. The effect was depe n -dent on the dose of BA applied. BA showed no marked inhibitory effect on either skin tumorinitiation or complete tumorigenesis induced by dimet hyl benzant hracene (DMBA ). Si nce t u -mor promotion reportedly involves epigenetic events whereas tumor initiation or complete tu-morigenesis takes place through genetic pathways, it is Possible that BA exerts its antitumori-genic effects mainly by altering the epigenetic events responsible for tumor promotion. The re-sults of the study could further be used to study the mechanism of action and modification ofantitumorigenic effects of BA in combination with other substances

Growth inhibitory effect of 4-phenyl butyric acid on human gastric cancer cells is associated with cell cycle arrest

AIM: To investigate the growth effects of 4-phenyl butyric acid (PBA) on human gastric carcinoma cells and their mechanisms. METHODS: Moderately-differentiated human gastric carcinoma SGC-7901 and lowly-differentiated MGC-803 cells were treated with 5, 10, 20, 40, and 60 μmol/L PBA for 1-4 d. Cell proliferation was detected using the MTT colorimetric assay. Cell cycle distributions were examined using flow cytometry.RESULTS: The proliferation of gastric carcinoma cells was inhibited by PBA in a doseand time-dependent fashion. Flow cytometry showed that SGC-7901 cells treated with low concentrations of PBA were arrested at the G0/G1 phase, whereas cells treated with high concentrations of PBA were arrested at the G2/M phase. Although MGC-803 cells treated with low concentrations of PBA were also arrested at the G0/G1 phase, cells treated with high concentrations of PBA were arrested at the S phase. CONCLUSION: The growth inhibitory effect of PBA on gastric cancer cells is associated with alteration of the cell cycle. For moderately-differentiated gastric cancer cells, the cell cycle was arrested at the G0/G1 and G2/M phases. For lowly-differentiated gastric cancer cells, the cell cycle was arrested at the G0/G1 and S phases.

Quantitative analysis of butyric acid-induced nuclear ultrastructural alterations in cells of human lung giant cell carcinoma in vitro

The effects of butyric acid(BA)on the nuclear ultrastructure of humanlung giant cell carcinoma(Strain PLA-801 D)were observed with digital imageprocessing.It was found that the length of the nuclear circumference of the tu-mor cells incubated with 2mmol of BA was approximately equal to that of thecontrol whereas the nuclear area was increased by 1.4times,which implies thatthe nuclear profile tends to become more regular after BA treatment.In addition,the optical density of the nuclei of the experimental group decreased significantlyas compared with that of the control,which indicates that the chromatin in thenuclei was decreased by BA.It was concluded on the basis of the findings thatBA may have a biological effect of reverse-transformation on the malignant cells.

Effect of Indole Butyric Acid on the Transportation of Stored Calcium in Malus hupehensis Rhed. Seedling

Calcium （Ca） plays an important role in the metabolism of higher plants. Recently, research on Ca^2＋ in plants has been focused especially at the cellular and molecular levels. Uptake, transport, and distribution are also very important for Ca to accomplish its function at the whole-plant level. In this experiment, one-year-old apple seedlings （M. hupehensis Rehd.） were investigated to determine the distribution of stored Ca, the different forms of Ca, and Ca^2＋-ATPase activity after treatment with indole butyric acid （IBA）. The results showed that the total Ca measured in mature leaves and Ca^2＋- ATPase activity in tender leaves were higher compared with those in the control （CK）. Calcium nitrate and calcium chloride （ALe-Ca） and calcium phosphate and calcium carbonate （HAC-Ca） decreased in both mature leaves and shoots, whereas water-soluble calcium （H2O-Ca）, calcium pectate （NaCl-Ca）, and calcium oxalate （HCl-Ca） increased. The percentage of active calcium, calcium pectate, and water-soluble calcium increased, whereas the percentage of calcium phosphate and calcium carbonate decreased. When treated with IBA, calcium fractions and percentage of the different forms of Ca was enhanced in 40 part per million （ppm） IBA compared with 20 ppm IBA and water. The results indicated that IBA increased the percentage of both active calcium （NaCl-Ca and H2O-Ca） in tender shoots and boosted the transportation of stored Ca in plants. IBA promoted Ca^2＋-ATPase activity and Ca^2＋ uptake in tender shoots of M. hupehensis. It can improve the total Ca contents and the relative percentage of Ca.

Dietary <i>γ</i>-Aminobutyric Acid Shortens the Life Span of Stroke-Prone Spontaneously Hypertensive Rats

Dietary γ-amino butyric acid (GABA) has been suggested to decrease systolic blood pressure. This study aimed to ex-amine the effects of dietary GABA on the life span of stroke-prone spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHRSPs). In this study, life span was determined for SHRSPs provided 1% NaCl solution or 0.01% GABA in 1% NaCl solution as drinking water. The life span of the GABA-fed group (76.3 ± 1.65 days) was significantly shorter than that of the control group (81.6 ± 0.88 days). The results of this study may not be applicable to humans. Future studies will be necessary to elucidate the mechanism underlying this phenomenon.

Induced systemic resistance to Meloidogyne spp by <i>β</i>,amino butyric acid in tomato

β,amino butyric acid (BABA) induced resistance against?Meloigogyne?spp in tomato. Significantly (p?= 0.05) less, 41.11 second stage juveniles (J2) enter the roots of treated than, 116.66 J2 in untreated control plants. Root fresh and dry weight (Rfw, Rdw) were 2.87 and 0.12 g in treated compared with 4.78 and 0.30 g in nematode infected control plants respectively, 30 d after nematode inoculation. Sfw and Sdw were 8.62 and 0.60 g compared with 3.94 and 0.22 g in control plants. Foliage spray at 40 and 20 mM of BABA was more effective than 10 and 5 mM treatments. The former two concentrations recorded the lowest, average gall index, 2.11 compared with 3.33, 4.11, and 5 for the latter two concentrations and nematode infected control respectively. Results also indicated that treatments with BABA prior to nematode inoculation were superior in inducing resistance toMeloidogyne?spp over treatment at the time or after nematode inoculation.

Promotion and Inhibition of Ruminal Epithelium Growth by Butyric Acid and Insulin-Like Growth Factor-1(IGF-1) in Dairy Goats

Isolated ruminal epithelia from caudal blind sacs of dairy goats were incubated with butyrate and insulin-like growth factor-1（IGF-1） at different concentrations. Proportions of ruminal epithelium in different phases of the cell division cycle were determined by flow cytometric analysis. The proportion of epithelial cells in S phase and G2-M phase（PS＆G2-M） increased significantly（P〈0.01） whereas the proportion of epithelial cells in G0-G1 phase（PG0-G1） decreased after incubation with IGF-1. PS＆G2-M decreased whereas PG0-G1 increased markedly（P〈0.01） after incubation with sodium butyrate. PS＆G2-M incubated with IGF-1 and butyrate sodium together increased more than that incubated with IGF-1 alone; PG0-G1, however, decreased significantly（P〈0.01）. Our results indicate that IGF-1 enhances whereas sodium butyrate inhibits the proliferation of rumen epithelial cells. Furthermore, butyrate and IGF-1, together, have a synergic effect on the proliferation of rumen epithelium.

Composite Sophora Colon-Soluble Capsule Ameliorates DSS-Induced Ulcerative Colitis in Mice via Gut Microbiota-Derived Butyric Acid and NCR+ ILC3

Objective: To investigate the effects of composite Sophora colon-soluble Capsule(CSCC) on gut microbiota-mediated short-chain fatty acids(SCFAs) production and downstream group 3 innate lymphoid cells(ILC3s) of dextran sulfate sodium(DSS)-induced ulcerative colitis(UC) mice model. Methods: The main components of CSCC were analyzed by hybrid ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography ion mobility spectromety quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry(UHPLC-IM-QTOF/MS). Twenty-four male BALB/c mice were randomly divided into 4 groups(n=6) by using a computer algorithm-generated random digital, including control, DSS model, mesalazine, and CSCC groups. A DSS-induced colitis mice model was established to determine the effects of CSCC by recording colonic weight, colonic length, index of colonic weight, and histological colonic score. The variations in ILC3s were assessed by immunofluorescence and flow cytometry. The results of gut microbiota and SCFAs were acquired by 16s r DNA and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry(GC-MS) analysis. The expression levels of NCR^(+)ILC3^(-), CCR6^(+)Nkp46-(Lti) ILC3^(-), and ILCreg-specific markers were detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, and real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction and Western blot, respectively. Results: The main components of CSCC were matrine, ammothamnine, Sophora flavescens neoalcohol J, and Sophora oxytol U. After 7 days of treatment, CSCC significantly alleviated colitis by promoting the reproduction of intestinal probiotics manifested as upregulation of the abundance of Bacteroidetes species and specifically the Bacteroidales_S24-7 genus(P<0.05). Among the SCFAs, the content of butyric acid increased the most after CSCC treatment. Meanwhile, compared with the model group, Lti ILC3s and its biomarkers were significantly downregulated and NCR^(+) ILC3s were significantly elevated in the CSCC group(P<0.01). Further experiments revealed that ILC3s were differentiated from Lti ILC3s to NCR^(+)ILC3s, resulting in interleukin-22 production which regulates gut epithelial barrier function. Conclusion: CSCC may exert a therapeutic effect on UC by improving the gut microbiota, promoting metabolite butyric acid production, and managing the ratio between NCR^(+)ILC3s and Lti ILC3s.

Emergence of taurine as a therapeutic agent for neurological disorders

Taurine is a sulfur-containing,semi-essential amino acid that occurs naturally in the body.It alternates between inflammation and oxidative stress-mediated injury in various disease models.As part of its limiting functions,taurine also modulates endoplasmic reticulum stress,Ca^(2+)homeostasis,and neuronal activity at the molecular level.Taurine effectively protects against a number of neurological disorders,including stro ke,epilepsy,cerebral ischemia,memory dysfunction,and spinal cord injury.Although various therapies are available,effective management of these disorders remains a global challenge.Approximately 30 million people are affected worldwide.The design of taurine fo rmation co uld lead to potential drugs/supplements for the health maintenance and treatment of central nervous system disorders.The general neuroprotective effects of taurine and the various possible underlying mechanisms are discussed in this review.This article is a good resource for understanding the general effects of taurine on various diseases.Given the strong evidence for the neuropharmacological efficacy of taurine in various experimental paradigms,it is concluded that this molecule should be considered and further investigated as a potential candidate for neurotherapeutics,with emphasis on mechanism and clinical studies to determine efficacy.

High production of butyric acid by Clostridium tyrobutyricum mutant

The objective of this study was to improve the production of butyric acid by process optimization using the metabolically engineered mutant of Clostridium tyrobutyricum （PAK-Em）. First, the free-cell fermentation at pH 6.0 produced butyric acid with concentration of 38.44 g/L and yield of 0.42 g/g. Second, the immobilized- cell fermentations using fibrous-bed bioreactor （FBB） were run at pHs of 5.0, 5.5, 6.0, 6.5 and 7.0 to optimize fermentation process and improve the butyric acid production. It was found that the highest titer of butyric acid, 63.02g/L, was achieved at pH 6.5. Finally, the metabolic flux balance analysis was performed to inves- tigate the carbon rebalance in C. tyrobutyricum. The results show both gene manipulation and fermentation pH change redistribute carbon between biomass, acetic acid and butyric acid. This study demonstrated that high butyric acid production could be obtained by integrating metabolic engineering and fermentation process optimization.

The Dominant Glutamic Acid Metabolic Flux to Produce γ-Amino Butyric Acid over Proline in Nicotiana tabacum Leaves under Water Stress Relates to its Significant Role in Antioxidant Activity

γ-Amino butyric acid （GABA） and proline play a crucial role in protecting plants during various environmental stresses. Their synthesis is from the common precursor glutamic acid, which is catalyzed by glutamate decarboxylase and △1-pyrroline-5-carboxylate synthetase respectively. However, the dominant pathway under water stress has not yet been established. To explore this, excised tobacco leaves were used to simulate a water-stress condition. The results showed GABA content was much higher than that of proline in leaves under water-deficit and non-water-deficit conditions. Specifically, the amount of GABA significantly increased compared to proline under continuous water loss for 16 h, indicating that GABA biosynthesis is the dominant pathway from glutamic acid metabolism under these conditions. Quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction and protein Western gel-blot analysis further confirmed this. To explore the function of GABA accumulation, a system producing superoxide anion （O 2 - ）, peroxide hydrogen （H 2 O 2 ）, and singlet oxygen （ 1 O 2 ） was employed to investigate the scavenging role on free-radical production. The results demonstrated that the scavenging ability of GABA for O 2 - , H 2 O 2 , and 1 O 2 was significantly higher than that of proline. This indicated that GABA acts as an effective osmolyte to reduce the production of reactive oxygen species under water stress.