Aspirin prevents colorectal cancer by regulating the abundance of Enterococcus cecorum and TIGIT+Treg cells

• Published in: Scientific reports Vol. 14; no. 1; pp. 13592 - 10
• Main Authors: Yang, Xiaojuan, Yan, Yajuan, Wang, Fengkui, Tian, Jinhua, Cao, Qian, Liu, Miao, Ma, Bin, Su, Chunxia, Duan, Xiangguo
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 12.06.2024; Nature Publishing Group; Nature Portfolio
• Subjects: 631/67; 692/308; 692/4028; Animals; Apoptosis; Aspirin; Aspirin - pharmacology; Cancer; CD19 antigen; CD25 antigen; CD4 antigen; CD8 antigen; Colorectal cancer; Colorectal carcinoma; Colorectal Neoplasms - microbiology; Colorectal Neoplasms - prevention & control; Enterococcus - drug effects; Enterococcus cecorum; Flow cytometry; Gastrointestinal Microbiome - drug effects; Helper cells; Humanities and Social Sciences; Intestinal microflora; Lymphocytes B; Lymphocytes T; Male; Mice; Mice, Inbred C57BL; Microbiota; Microenvironments; multidisciplinary; Receptors, Immunologic - metabolism; rRNA 16S; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); Survival; T-Lymphocytes, Regulatory - drug effects; T-Lymphocytes, Regulatory - immunology; Tumor Microenvironment - drug effects; Tumors; Western blotting
• ISSN: 2045-2322; 2045-2322
• DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-64447-0

Although aspirin can reduce the incidence of colorectal cancer (CRC), there is still uncertainty about its significance as a treatment for CRC, and the mechanism of aspirin in CRC is not well understood. In this study, we used aspirin to prevent AOM/DSS-induced CRC in mice, and the anti-CRC efficacy of aspirin was assessed using haematoxylin and eosin (H&E) staining and by determining the mouse survival rate and tumour size. 16S rDNA sequencing, flow cytometry (FCM), and Western blotting were also conducted to investigate the changes in the gut microbiota, tumour immune microenvironment, and apoptotic proteins, respectively. The results demonstrated that aspirin significantly exerted anti-CRC effects in mice. According to 16S rDNA sequencing, aspirin regulated the composition of the gut microbiota and dramatically reduced the abundance of Enterococcus cecorum . FCM demonstrated that there were more CD155 tumour cells and CD4 + CD25 + Treg cells showed increased TIGIT levels. Moreover, increased TIGIT expression on Treg cells is associated with reduced Treg cell functionality. Importantly, the inhibition of Treg cells is accompanied by the promotion of CD19 + GL-7 + B cells, CD8 + T cells, CD4 + CCR4 + Th2 cells, and CD4 + CCR6 + Th17 cells. Overall, aspirin prevents colorectal cancer by regulating the abundance of Enterococcus cecorum and TIGIT + Treg cells.