Fish Oil Ameliorates Vibrio parahaemolyticus Infection in Mice by Restoring Colonic Microbiota, Metabolic Profiles, and Immune Homeostasis

• Published in: Journal of agricultural and food chemistry Vol. 71; no. 18; pp. 6920 - 6934
• Main Authors: Deng, Yijia, Wang, Rundong, Li, Xuepeng, Tan, Xiqian, Zhang, Yuhao, Gooneratne, Ravi, Li, Jianrong
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States American Chemical Society 10.05.2023
• Subjects: Animals; Bioactive Constituents, Metabolites, and Functions; Fish Oils - pharmacology; Gastric Mucosa - metabolism; Gastrointestinal Microbiome - drug effects; Homeostasis - drug effects; Male; Metabolome; Mice; Mice, Inbred C57BL; Vibrio Infections - drug therapy; Vibrio parahaemolyticus; Vibrio parahaemolyticus; immune homeostasis; microbiota diversity; fish oil; gut metabolites
• ISSN: 0021-8561; 1520-5118
• DOI: 10.1021/acs.jafc.2c08559

The effect of fish oil (FO) on colonic function, immunity, and microbiota was investigated in Vibrio parahaemolyticus (Vp)-infected C57BL/6J mice. Mice intragastrically presupplemented with FO (4.0 mg) significantly reduced Vp infection as evidenced by stabilizing body weight and reducing disease activity index score and immune organ ratios. FO minimized colonic pathological damage, strengthened the mucosal barrier, and sustained epithelial permeability by increasing epithelial crypt depth, goblet cell numbers, and tight junctions and inhibiting colonic collagen accumulation and fibrosis protein expression. Mechanistically, FO enhanced immunity by decreasing colonic CD3+ T cells, increasing CD4+ T cells, downregulating the TLR4 pathway, reducing interleukin-17 (IL-17) and tumor necrosis factor-α, and increasing immune cytokine IL-4 and interferon-γ levels. Additionally, FO maintained colonic microbiota eubiosis by improving microbial diversity and boosting Clostridium, Akkermansia, and Roseburia growth and their derived propionic acid and butyric acid levels. Collectively, FO alleviated Vp infection by enriching beneficial colonic microbiota and metabolites and restoring immune homeostasis.