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The effect of aspartate supplementation on the microbial composition and innate immunity on mice

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Abstract

The study was conducted to investigate the changes of intestinal microbiota composition and innate immunity with different dietary dosages of aspartate (Asp) supplementation. Thirty-six female ICR mice were divided randomly to four groups and thereafter fed the basal diets (controls) or those supplemented with additional 0.5, 1.0 and 2.0% aspartate. After 2 week feeding, microbial composition in ileum and feces, gene expression of pro-inflammatory cytokine, and innate immune factors in ileum were determined. The ratio of Firmicutes: Bacteroidetes in ileum and feces decreased in 0.5 and 1.0% Asp-supplemented groups, whereas this ratio increased in feces in 2.0% Asp-supplemented group. Meanwhile, the gene expression of IL-17 and IFN-γ in ileum decreased in 1.0% Asp-supplemented group; the gene expression in ileum of Muc2 decreased in 0.5 and 1.0% Asp-supplemented groups. Dietary supplementation with 2.0% Asp enhanced the expression of pIgR and Crp1 as compared to the other three groups. The results indicated that dietary 1.0% Asp supplementation lowers the ratio of Firmicutes:Bacteroidetes, which affects the innate immunity by decreasing the gene expression of IL-17, IFN-γ, and Muc2 in ileum.

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Abbreviations

iNOS:

Inducible nitric oxide synthase

TLR:

Toll-like receptor

Asp:

Aspartate

IL-17:

Interleukin-17

IFN-γ:

Interferon-gamma

pIgR:

Polymeric immunoglobulin receptor

Muc2:

Mucin-2

Muc4:

Mucin-4

Muc6:

Mucin-6

Crp1:

Cryptdins-1

Crp4:

Cryptdins-4

Crp5:

Cryptdins-5

Lzy2:

Lysozyme 2

SCFA:

Short-chain fatty acid

NOD:

Nucleotide-binding oligomerization domain protein

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Acknowledgements

This research was supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2016YFD0500504, 2016YFD0501201), International Partnership Program of Chinese Academy of Sciences (161343KYSB20160008), Key Programs of frontier scientific research of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (QYZDY-SSW- SMC008), National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 31570114, 31330075, 31110103909), and Chinese Academy of Sciences visiting professorship for senior international scientists Grant No. 2016VBB007.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Agro-ecological Processes in Subtropical Region, Institute of Subtropical Agriculture, Chinese Academy of Sciences, National Engineering Laboratory for Pollution Control and Waste Utilization in Livestock and Poultry Production, Changsha, 410125, Hunan, China

    Peng Bin, Shaojuan Liu, Shuai Chen, Zhaoying Zeng, Ruilin Huang, Yulong Yin & Gang Liu

  2. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 10049, China

    Peng Bin, Shaojuan Liu & Shuai Chen

  3. Animal Nutrition and Human Health Laboratory, School of Life Sciences, Hunan Normal University, Changsha, 410081, Hunan, China

    Yulong Yin

  4. College of Animal Science, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou, 510642, Guangdong, China

    Yulong Yin

Authors
  1. Peng Bin
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  2. Shaojuan Liu
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  3. Shuai Chen
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  4. Zhaoying Zeng
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  5. Ruilin Huang
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  6. Yulong Yin
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  7. Gang Liu
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Contributions

G.L., R.H., and Y.Y. conceived the experiment(s), P.B. and S.L. conducted the experiments, P.B., S.L., and G.L. analyzed the results. P.B., G.L., and C.A.H. prepared the manuscript. All authors reviewed the manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Gang Liu.

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Ethical approval

The protocol for this study was approved by the Committee on the Ethics of Animal Experiments of Institute of Subtropical Agriculture, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and it was conducted out in accordance with the recommendations in the Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals of Institute of Subtropical Agriculture, Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest regarding the publication of this article.

Additional information

Handling Editors: C.-A.A. Hu, Y. Yin, Y. Hou, G. Wu, Y. Teng.

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Bin, P., Liu, S., Chen, S. et al. The effect of aspartate supplementation on the microbial composition and innate immunity on mice. Amino Acids 49, 2045–2051 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00726-017-2467-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00726-017-2467-5

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