Microbial Composition and Co-Occurrence Patterns in the Gut Microbial Community of Normal and Obese Mice in Response to Astaxanthin

Species interactions of the gut microbiota play critical roles on improving human health. The modulating effect of astaxanthin on the gut microbiota has been reported. However, little is known about the co-occurrence patterns among microbial taxa in response to astaxanthin. In this study, the gut microbial composition, co-occurrence patterns and microbial interactions with physiological parameters in astaxanthin-fed normal and obese mice were studied. Astaxanthin altered the microbial composition and co-occurrence patterns in normal and obese mice. Furthermore, astaxanthin gave more profound impacts on microbiota in obesity, when compared with normal mice. In group A (normal or obese mice supplemented with astaxanthin), the abundance of Acinetobacter was decreased and the Alistipes was increased by astaxanthin, which were also occurred in MA group (obese mice supplemented with astaxanthin). An OTU (GreenGeneID# 4029632) assigned to the genus Bacteroides acted as a connector in the global network of A and MA groups. It may play critical roles in bridging intimate interactions between the host and other bacteria intervened by astaxanthin. Several modules correlated with physiological parameters were detected. For example, Modules A12 and MA10 were significantly and negatively correlated with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and fasting blood glucose (FBG) levels, respectively. A positive correlation was found between node connectivity of the OTUs belonging to Clostridiaceae with LPS in obese mice, which indicated the role of Clostridiales as a potential pathological marker. Our findings provided a new interpretation of the role of astaxanthin in health.

肠道微生物群落的物种相互作用对改善人类健康发挥着至关重要的作用。已知虾青素对肠道微生物的调节作用。然而，关于虾青素作用下微生物类群共现模式的了解尚显不足。在本研究中，我们探究了虾青素喂养的正常和肥胖小鼠的肠道微生物组成、共现模式以及微生物与生理参数之间的相互作用。虾青素改变了正常和肥胖小鼠的微生物组成和共现模式。此外，与正常小鼠相比，虾青素对肥胖小鼠的微生物群落产生了更为显著的影响。在A组（补充虾青素的正常或肥胖小鼠）中，铜绿假单胞菌的丰度降低，而Alistipes的丰度增加，这一现象也出现在MA组（补充虾青素的肥胖小鼠）中。一个被分配为Bacteroides属的OTU（GreenGeneID# 4029632）在A组和MA组的全局网络中充当了连接者，可能在连接宿主与其他细菌之间由虾青素介导的密切相互作用中发挥关键作用。检测到与生理参数相关的几个模块。例如，模块A12和MA10分别与脂多糖（LPS）和空腹血糖（FBG）水平显著且负相关。在肥胖小鼠中，发现Clostridiaceae属OTUs的节点连接性与LPS之间存在正相关，这表明Clostridiales可能作为潜在的病理标志物。我们的研究为虾青素在健康中的作用提供了新的见解。