Metabolomics data for: Microbiome study in irradiated mice treated with a promising radiation countermeasure, BIO 300

The mammalian gut harbors a very complex and diverse microbiota that play
an important role in the intestinal homeostasis and host health. Exposure
to radiation results in dysbiosis of the gut microbiota leading to
detrimental pathophysiological changes to the host. To alleviate the
effects of irradiation, several candidate countermeasures are under
investigation. BIO 300 is a promising candidate under advanced
development. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of BIO
300 on the gut microbiome and metabolome of mice exposed to 60Co
gamma-radiation. The gut microbiota and metabolome of control and drug
treated mice exposed to irradiation was characterized by bacterial 16S
rRNA amplicon sequencing and untargeted metabolomics. We found that
irradiation, altered the ratio of Bacteroidetes to Firmicutes as well as
significantly decreased the relative abundance of Lactobacillus,
initially, both in BIO 300-treated and control mice; however, the ratio
returned to near normal levels in BIO 300-treated mice by day 14
post-irradiation. Concomitantly, we also observed corrective shifts in
metabolic pathways that were perturbed after irradiation. Overall, the
data presented show that radiation exposure led to a bloom of
opportunistic pathogens and depletion of beneficial commensals leading to
an inflammatory metabolic phenotype while majority of the drug treated
mice showed alleviation of this condition primarily by restoration of
normal gut microbiota. These results indicate that the radioprotective
effects of BIO 300 at least in part may involve correction of the
host-microbiome metabolic axis.