UMMS Affiliation

Program in Molecular Medicine; Division of Endocrinology, Metabolism, and Diabetes, Department of Medicine

Publication Date

2021-07-30

Document Type

Article

Disciplines

Cellular and Molecular Physiology | Endocrinology | Endocrinology, Diabetes, and Metabolism | Hormones, Hormone Substitutes, and Hormone Antagonists | Nutritional and Metabolic Diseases | Women's Health

Abstract

A decrease in ovarian estrogens in postmenopausal women increases the risk of weight gain, cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, and chronic inflammation. While it is known that gut microbiota regulates energy homeostasis, it is unclear if gut microbiota is associated with estradiol regulation of metabolism. In this study, we tested if estradiol-mediated protection from high-fat diet (HFD)-induced obesity and metabolic changes are associated with longitudinal alterations in gut microbiota in female mice. Ovariectomized adult mice with vehicle or estradiol (E2) implants were fed chow for two weeks and HFD for four weeks. As reported previously, E2 increased energy expenditure, physical activity, insulin sensitivity, and whole-body glucose turnover. Interestingly, E2 decreased the tight junction protein occludin, suggesting E2 affects gut epithelial integrity. Moreover, E2 increased Akkermansia and decreased Erysipleotrichaceae and Streptococcaceae. Furthermore, Coprobacillus and Lactococcus were positively correlated, while Akkermansia was negatively correlated, with body weight and fat mass. These results suggest that changes in gut epithelial barrier and specific gut microbiota contribute to E2-mediated protection against diet-induced obesity and metabolic dysregulation. These findings provide support for the gut microbiota as a therapeutic target for treating estrogen-dependent metabolic disorders in women.

Keywords

Akkermansia, diabetes, estrogens, gut microbiome, gut permeability/integrity, insulin sensitivity

Rights and Permissions

Copyright © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

DOI of Published Version

10.3390/metabo11080499

Source

Acharya KD, Noh HL, Graham ME, Suk S, Friedline RH, Gomez CC, Parakoyi AER, Chen J, Kim JK, Tetel MJ. Distinct Changes in Gut Microbiota Are Associated with Estradiol-Mediated Protection from Diet-Induced Obesity in Female Mice. Metabolites. 2021 Jul 30;11(8):499. doi: 10.3390/metabo11080499. PMID: 34436440; PMCID: PMC8398128. Link to article on publisher's site

Journal/Book/Conference Title

Metabolites

Related Resources

Link to Article in PubMed

PubMed ID

34436440

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Download

Share

COinS