Zhou Xiao, Wei Chanjuan, Liu Jiaming, Xia Xiaoshuang, Wang Lin, Li Xin
Department of Neurology, The Second Hospital of Tianjin Medical University, No. 23, Pingjiang Road, Tianjin, 300211, China.
Department of Geriatrics, The Second Hospital of Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin, China.
Sci Rep. 2025 Jul 1;15(1):21558. doi: 10.1038/s41598-025-07614-1.
Many diseases are influenced by environmental temperature, and recent studies have confirmed that cold exposure increases the risk of conditions such as ischemic stroke (IS). However, direct evidence supporting this hypothesis is lacking, and the molecular mechanisms through which cold exposure affects IS remain unclear. In this study, we found that chronic cold exposure increased platelet aggregation and the levels of certain inflammatory factors in high-risk stroke patients (HR), thereby increasing the risk of IS. Furthermore, before and after a cold wave, we observed gut microbiota dysbiosis in the HR group, including reduced relative abundance differences in Lachnospiraceae and Ruminococcaceae. The relative abundances of the Prevotella_9 and Catenibacterium genera increased, whereas that of Anaerostipes decreased. Notably, the results of fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) indicated that cold-adapted microbiota transplantation partially replicated the microbiota characteristics of each donor subject and replicated the effects of cold exposure in C57BL/6J mice. Cold exposure impaired intestinal barrier function and interfered with microbial functions, such as increased lipid metabolism and LPS production, particularly by increasing the levels of TMAO derived from the gut microbiota. Our findings identify the significant role of abnormal gut microbiota-derived metabolites in cold exposure-related IS and highlight the potential opportunity to prevent or treat cold-related IS through the modulation of the gut microbiota.
许多疾病都受环境温度影响，近期研究证实，暴露于寒冷环境会增加缺血性中风（IS）等疾病的发病风险。然而，支持这一假说的直接证据尚缺，且寒冷暴露影响IS的分子机制仍不明晰。在本研究中，我们发现长期寒冷暴露会增加高危中风患者（HR）的血小板聚集及某些炎症因子水平，从而增加IS风险。此外，在寒潮前后，我们观察到HR组存在肠道微生物群失调，包括毛螺菌科和瘤胃球菌科的相对丰度差异减小。普雷沃菌属_9和链状杆菌属的相对丰度增加，而厌氧棒菌属的相对丰度降低。值得注意的是，粪便微生物群移植（FMT）结果表明，适应寒冷的微生物群移植部分重现了每个供体受试者的微生物群特征，并在C57BL/6J小鼠中重现了寒冷暴露的影响。寒冷暴露损害肠道屏障功能并干扰微生物功能，如增加脂质代谢和LPS产生，特别是通过增加源自肠道微生物群的氧化三甲胺（TMAO）水平。我们的研究结果确定了异常肠道微生物群衍生代谢物在寒冷暴露相关IS中的重要作用，并突出了通过调节肠道微生物群预防或治疗寒冷相关IS的潜在机会。
