Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Tianjin, China; Beijing Institute of Radiation Medicine, Beijing, China.
China Pharmaceutical Culture Collection, Institute of Medicinal Biotechnology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China.
Biomed Pharmacother. 2021 Jul;139:111654. doi: 10.1016/j.biopha.2021.111654. Epub 2021 May 3.
Previous studies have suggested that Lycium barbarum (L. barbarum) has a radioprotective function, although more in-depth investigation is still required. We investigated the radioprotective efficacy of extract of the fruits of L. barbarum (LBE) and its radioprotective mechanisms. Mice were exposed to 8.5 Gy, 5.5 Gy, or 6.0 Gy total body irradiation (TBI), and the survival rate, lymphocyte percentage, amount of cytokines, and viability of the irradiated cells, as well as the gut microbiome and fecal metabolomics were studied. LBE enhanced the survival of the mice exposed to 8.5 Gy γ-ray TBI or 5.5 Gy X-ray TBI. After 6.0 Gy γ-ray TBI, LBE exhibited good immunomodulatory properties, mainly characterized by the accelerated recovery of lymphocyte percentages, and the enhanced expression of immune-related cytokines. LBE reconstituted the gut microbiota of irradiated mice, increased the relative abundance of potentially beneficial genera (e.g., Turicibacter, Akkermansia), and decreased the relative abundance of potentially harmful bacterial genera (e.g., Rikenellaceae_RC9_gut_group). Beneficial regulatory effects of LBE on the host metabolites were also noted, and the major upregulated metabolites induced by LBE, such as Tetrahydrofolic acid and N-ornithyl-L-taurine, were positively correlated with the immune factor interleukin (IL)-6. In vitro, LBE also increased the vitality of rat small intestinal epithelial cells (IEC-6) after 4.0 Gy γ-ray irradiation and promoted the growth of Akkermansia muciniphila. These results confirmed a radioprotective function of LBE and indicated that the radioprotective mechanism may be due to immunomodulation and the synergistically modulating effect on the gut microbiota and related metabolites.
先前的研究表明，枸杞（L. barbarum）具有放射防护功能，尽管还需要更深入的研究。我们研究了枸杞提取物（LBE）的放射防护功效及其放射防护机制。将小鼠暴露于 8.5Gy、5.5Gy 或 6.0Gy 全身照射（TBI），研究其存活率、淋巴细胞百分比、细胞因子含量、照射细胞活力以及肠道微生物群和粪便代谢组学。LBE 提高了 8.5Gyγ射线 TBI 或 5.5GyX 射线 TBI 照射的小鼠的存活率。6.0Gyγ射线 TBI 后，LBE 表现出良好的免疫调节特性，主要表现为淋巴细胞百分比的快速恢复，以及免疫相关细胞因子的增强表达。LBE 重建了受照射小鼠的肠道微生物群，增加了潜在有益属（如 Turicibacter、Akkermansia）的相对丰度，降低了潜在有害细菌属（如 Rikenellaceae_RC9_gut_group）的相对丰度。LBE 对宿主代谢物也有有益的调节作用，LBE 诱导的主要上调代谢物，如四氢叶酸和 N-鸟氨酸-L-牛磺酸，与免疫因子白细胞介素（IL）-6 呈正相关。体外，LBE 还可提高 4.0Gyγ射线照射后大鼠小肠上皮细胞（IEC-6）的活力，并促进 Akkermansia muciniphila 的生长。这些结果证实了 LBE 的放射防护功能，并表明其放射防护机制可能归因于免疫调节以及对肠道微生物群和相关代谢物的协同调节作用。
