Effects of Electroacupuncture on Gut Microbiota and Fecal Metabolites in Rats with Poststroke Depression

Abstract

Wa Cai,1,* Xi-Fang Wei,1,* Chen Hu,1 Jun Ji,2 Hua Shun Cui,1 Wei-Dong Shen1 1Department of Acupuncture, Shanghai Shuguang Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai, People’s Republic of China; 2Department of Acupuncture Literature, Shanghai Research Institute of Acupuncture and Meridian, Shanghai, People’s Republic of China*These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Wei-Dong Shen; Hua Shun Cui, Email [email protected]; [email protected]: Poststroke depression (PSD) is the most frequent neuropsychiatric consequence of stroke. Electroacupuncture (EA) has been found to be an effective therapy for treating PSD. However, the underlying mechanisms of EA’s efficacy remain unclear. This research aimed to investigate the effects of EA on alterations in gut microbiota and fecal metabolome in PSD rats.Methods: Analyses of gut microbiome and fecal metabolome were performed to identify gut microbes and their functional metabolites in a sham group, PSD group, and EA group. We conducted enrichment analysis to identify the differential metabolic pathways in three groups. Correlations between altered gut microbes and differential metabolites after EA treatment were studied.Results: PSD showed decreased species-richness/diversity indices of microbial composition, characterized by an increase in Muribaculaceae, Peptostreptococcaceae, Oscillospiraceae, Ruminococcaceae, and Clostridiaceae and a decrease in Lactobacillaceae, Lachnospiraceae, and Bacteroidaceae. Of these, the abundance of Muribaculaceae, Lactobacillaceae, Lachnospiraceae, Peptostreptococcaceae, and Clostridiaceae were reversed by EA. Furthermore, PSD was associated with 34 differential fecal metabolites, mainly belonging to steroid hormone biosynthesis, that could be regulated by EA.Conclusion: Regulation of gut microbiome and lipid metabolism could be one of the potential mechanisms for EA treatment for alleviating the depressive behaviors of PSD.Keywords: electroacupuncture, gut microbiome, fecal metabolome, metabolic pathways, poststroke depression

Keywords

• electroacupuncture
• gut microbiome
• fecal metabolome
• metabolic pathways
• post stroke depression;