Changes in gut microbiota linked to a prevention of cardiac remodeling induced by hypertension in spontaneously hypertensive rats fed a pawpaw fruit diet

Kai Chen; Shaoyu Wu; Yiqing Guan; Yunci Ma; Yu Huang; Xin Liu; Dongling Quan; Jingru Zhang; Lin Lv; Guohua Zhang

doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e15576

Changes in gut microbiota linked to a prevention of cardiac remodeling induced by hypertension in spontaneously hypertensive rats fed a pawpaw fruit diet

Heliyon. 2023 Apr 17;9(5):e15576. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e15576. eCollection 2023 May.

Authors

Kai Chen^{1

2}, Shaoyu Wu³, Yiqing Guan¹, Yunci Ma⁴, Yu Huang³, Xin Liu¹, Dongling Quan¹, Jingru Zhang¹, Lin Lv³, Guohua Zhang¹

Affiliations

¹ School of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Southern Medical University, China.
² Shenzhen Hospital, Southern Medical University, China.
³ School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Southern Medical University, China.
⁴ Southern Medical University Nanfang Hospital, China.

Abstract

Objective: Dietary intake of fruit is associated with lower incidence of hypertension and cardiovascular risk. Papaya is a kind of delicious fruit and reported has dietary therapeutic effects, such as digestive stimulation and hypotensive efficacy. However, the mechanism of pawpaw involved have not been elucidated. Here, we illustrate that the effect of pawpaw on the gut microbiota and the prevention of cardiac remodeling.

Methods: Gut microbiome, cardiac structure/function, and blood pressure were examined in SHR and WKY groups. The intestinal barrier was tested with histopathologic; immunostaining and Western blot were used to measure the tight junction protein level; Gpr41 was tested by RT-PCR, and inflammatory factors were detected with ELISA.

Results: We observed a significant decrease in microbial richness, diversity, and evenness is the spontaneously hypertensive rat (SHR), in addition to an increased Firmicutes/Bacteroidetes (F/B) ratio. These changes were accompanied by decreased in acetate and butyrate-producing bacteria. Compared with SHR, treatment with pawpaw at the dosage of 10 g/kg for 12 weeks significantly reduced the blood pressure, cardiac fibrosis and cardiac hypertrophy, while the ratio of F/B decreased. We also found that the concentration of short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) was increased in SHR fed with pawpaw compared with that in control group, while the gut barrier was restored and level of proinflammatory cytokines in the serum were decreased.

Conclusions: Pawpaw, rich of high fiber, led to changes in the gut microbiota that played a protective role in the development of cardiac remodeling. The potential mechanism of pawpaw may explained by the generation of one of the main metabolites of the gut microbiota, the short-chain fatty acid acetate, increasing tight junction protein level occluding to enhance the gut barrier for less releasing the inflammation cytokines, and upregulating G-protein-coupled receptor 41 (GPR41) to reduce blood pressure.

Keywords: Acetate; Gut microbiota; Hypertension; Pawpaw fruit.