Pathophysiology Unit, Department of Pathophysiology, Medical University of Silesia, University of Silesia, 18 Medyków Street, 40-752 Katowice, Poland.
Int J Endocrinol. 2013;2013:674106. doi: 10.1155/2013/674106. Epub 2013 Jul 18.
The association between gut microbiota and circulating zonulin level, a marker of intestinal permeability, has not been studied yet. The aim of the study is the assessment of plasma zonulin, haptoglobin and proinflammatory cytokines (TNF- α and IL-6) levels in relation to composition of gut microbiota in obese and normal weight subjects. Circulating inflammation markers, such as TNF- α , sTNFR1, sTNFR2, IL-6, zonulin, and haptoglobin levels were measured and semiquantitative analysis of gut microbiota composition was carried out in 50 obese and 30 normal weight subjects without concomitant diseases. Higher circulating zonulin, TNF- α , sTNFR1, sTNFR2, and IL-6 levels were found in the obese subjects. Plasma zonulin level correlated positively with age (r = 0.43, P < 0.001), body mass (r = 0.30, P < 0.01), BMI (r = 0.33, P < 0.01), fat mass and fat percentage (r = 0.31, P < 0.01 and r = 0.23, P < 0.05, resp.). Positive correlations between bacterial colony count and sTNFR1 (r = 0.33, P < 0.01) and plasma zonulin (r = 0.26, P < 0.05) but not haptoglobin levels were found. Additionally, plasma zonulin level was proportional to daily energy intake (r = 0.27, P < 0.05) and serum glucose concentration (r = 0.18, P < 0.05) and inversely proportional to diet protein percentage (r = -0.23, P < 0.05). Gut microbiota-related systemic microinflammation in the obese is reflected by circulating zonulin level, a potential marker of interstitial permeability.
肠道微生物群与循环中封闭蛋白水平（肠道通透性的标志物）之间的关系尚未得到研究。本研究旨在评估肥胖和正常体重受试者的肠道微生物群组成与血浆封闭蛋白、触珠蛋白和促炎细胞因子（TNF-α和 IL-6）水平之间的关系。在 50 名肥胖和 30 名无合并症的正常体重受试者中测量了循环炎症标志物，如 TNF-α、sTNFR1、sTNFR2、IL-6、封闭蛋白和触珠蛋白水平，并进行了肠道微生物群组成的半定量分析。肥胖受试者的循环封闭蛋白、TNF-α、sTNFR1、sTNFR2 和 IL-6 水平较高。血浆封闭蛋白水平与年龄（r = 0.43，P < 0.001）、体重（r = 0.30，P < 0.01）、BMI（r = 0.33，P < 0.01）、脂肪量和脂肪百分比（r = 0.31，P < 0.01 和 r = 0.23，P < 0.05，分别）呈正相关。还发现细菌菌落计数与 sTNFR1（r = 0.33，P < 0.01）和血浆封闭蛋白（r = 0.26，P < 0.05）呈正相关，但与触珠蛋白水平无关。此外，血浆封闭蛋白水平与每日能量摄入（r = 0.27，P < 0.05）和血清葡萄糖浓度（r = 0.18，P < 0.05）呈正相关，与饮食蛋白质百分比（r = -0.23，P < 0.05）呈负相关。肥胖者肠道微生物群相关的系统性微炎症反映在循环封闭蛋白水平上，这是一种潜在的间质通透性标志物。
