College of Food Science and Engineering, School of Life and Pharmaceutical Science, Hainan University, Haikou 570228, Hainan, P. R. China.
Key Laboratory of Tropical Biological Resources, Ministry of Education, Hainan University, Haikou 570228, Hainan, P. R. China.
Food Funct. 2019 Nov 1;10(11):7164-7173. doi: 10.1039/c9fo01237k. Epub 2019 Oct 9.
Potassium sorbate (PS) is a class of bacteriostatic antiseptic agent widely used in the food industry; the effects of its intake on host health are currently unclear. In the present study, zebrafish (Danio rerio) were exposed to 0.1 g L and 1 g L aqueous solutions of PS for 2 weeks to investigate the impact of PS on the microecological balance of the intestinal microbiota and immune system. PS exposure triggered immune regulation of zebrafish, significantly reducing the content of diverse biomarkers in the gut, including Immunoglobulin G (IgG), interleukin-1β (IL-1β) and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α). Based on high-throughput sequencing data, it was observed that PS exposure resulted in some destabilization of the microbiome composition of the zebrafish, which mainly manifested as a reduction in the abundance of specific genera and the relative levels of transcription and carbohydrate metabolism related to microbial reproductive ability and activity. These changes were consistent with the activity index of microbiota (AIM), a novel measure that we constructed. Collectively, these results illustrate that PS can affect the immune system of zebrafish by changing the composition and function of the gut microbiota, and inhibiting the metabolism of the intestinal microbiota. Our study offers a new understanding of the toxicity of PS.
山梨酸钾（PS）是一种广泛应用于食品工业的抑菌防腐剂；其摄入对宿主健康的影响尚不清楚。本研究采用浓度为 0.1 g/L 和 1 g/L 的山梨酸钾水溶液对斑马鱼（Danio rerio）进行为期 2 周的暴露实验，以探究 PS 对肠道微生物群和免疫系统微生态平衡的影响。PS 暴露可触发斑马鱼的免疫调节，显著降低肠道中多种生物标志物的含量，包括免疫球蛋白 G（IgG）、白细胞介素-1β（IL-1β）和肿瘤坏死因子-α（TNF-α）。基于高通量测序数据，观察到 PS 暴露导致斑马鱼肠道微生物组组成的一些不稳定性，主要表现为特定属的丰度降低，以及与微生物生殖能力和活性相关的转录和碳水化合物代谢的相对水平降低。这些变化与我们构建的一种新的微生物组活性指数（AIM）一致。总之，这些结果表明 PS 可以通过改变肠道微生物群的组成和功能，抑制肠道微生物群的代谢，影响斑马鱼的免疫系统。本研究为 PS 的毒性提供了新的认识。
