Dysbiosis of Fecal Microbiota From Complement 3 Knockout Mice With Constipation Phenotypes Contributes to Development of Defecation Delay

Yun Ju Choi; Ji Eun Kim; Su Jin Lee; Jeong Eun Gong; Hong Joo Son; Jin Tae Hong; Dae Youn Hwang

doi:10.3389/fphys.2021.650789

Dysbiosis of Fecal Microbiota From Complement 3 Knockout Mice With Constipation Phenotypes Contributes to Development of Defecation Delay

Front Physiol. 2021 Jul 19:12:650789. doi: 10.3389/fphys.2021.650789. eCollection 2021.

Authors

Yun Ju Choi¹, Ji Eun Kim¹, Su Jin Lee¹, Jeong Eun Gong¹, Hong Joo Son², Jin Tae Hong³, Dae Youn Hwang^{1

4}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Biomaterials Science (BK21 FOUR Program), College of Natural Resources and Life Science/Life and Industry Convergence Research Institute, Pusan National University, Miryang, South Korea.
² Department of Life Science and Environmental Biochemistry, College of Natural Resources and Life Science/Life and Industry Convergence Research Institute, Pusan National University, Miryang, South Korea.
³ College of Pharmacy, Chungbuk National University, Cheongju, South Korea.
⁴ Laboratory Animals Resources Center, Pusan National University, Miryang, South Korea.

Abstract

Significant phenotypes for constipation were detected in complement 3 (C3) knockout (KO) mice, although no research has been conducted on an association with alteration of gut microbiota. To investigate the effects of dysbiosis on fecal microbiota from C3 KO mice with constipation, the composition of fecal microbiota was characterized in mid-colons of 16-week-old C3 KO mice, and their function for defecation delay development was examined after fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) of C3 KO mice. Some significant alterations in constipation phenotypes, including stool parameters and histopathological structure, were detected in 16-week-old C3 KO mice compared to those of wild-type (WT) mice. Fecal microbiota of C3 KO mice exhibited decreases in Anaerocolumna, Caecibacterium, Christensenella, Kineothrix, and Oscillibacter populations and increases in Prevotellamassilia, Reuthenibacterium, Prevotella, Eubacterium, Culturomica, Bacteroides, and Muribaculum populations. In FMT study, key stool parameters, including weight and water content, were remarkably declined in a transplanted KO (KFMT) group of antibiotics-induced depletion of microbiota (AiDM)-WT and AiDM-KO mice, and a similar change was observed in fecal morphology. However, intestine length decreased in only the KFMT group of AiDM-WT mice compared with that of AiDM-KO mice. The mucosal layer and muscle thickness were commonly decreased in the KFMT group of AiDM-WT and AiDM-KO mice, and significant alterations in the crypt structure of Lieberkuhn and molecular regulators, including AQP8, C-kit, and 5-HT, were observed in the same group. Taken together, results of the present study indicate that dysbiosis of fecal microbiota from C3 KO mice with constipation phenotypes has a key role in the induction and regulation of defecation delay.

Keywords: C-kit; complement C3; constipation; dysbiosis; fecal microbiota transplantation.