Late stage glioma is associated with deletorious alteration of host-gut microbiota interaction in mice

Brain-gut axis refers to the bidirectional functional connection between the brain and the gut, which sustains vital functions for vertebrates. This connection also underlies the gastrointestinal (GI) co-morbidities associated with brain disorder. Using a mouse model of glioma, based on the orthotopic injection of GL261 cell line in syngeneic C57BL6 mice, we show that late stage glioma is associated with GI functional alteration and with a shift in the level of some bacterial metabolites in the cecum. By performing cecal content transfer experiments, we further show that cancer-associated alteration in cecal metabolites is involved in end stage disease progression. Antibiotic treatment results in a slight but significant delay in mice death and with a shift in the proportion of myeloid cells in the brain tumor environment. This work gives a rational to consider microbiota modulating strategies in the clinical management of patients with late stage glioma.