Open AccessJinmaitong ameliorates diabetic peripheral neuropathy in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats by modulating gut microbiota and neuregulin 1
Author(s) -
Jun Xie,
Wei Song,
Xuan Liang,
Qian Zhang,
Yue Shi,
Wei Liu,
Xiaohu Shi
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
aging
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.473
H-Index - 90
ISSN - 1945-4589
DOI - 10.18632/aging.103750
Subject(s) - streptozotocin , neuregulin 1 , peripheral neuropathy , diabetic neuropathy , gut flora , medicine , diabetes mellitus , neuregulin , pharmacology , endocrinology , immunology , receptor
Jinmaitong (JMT), a compound prescription of traditional Chinese medicine, has long been used as a therapy for diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN). However, the neuroprotective mechanisms of JMT and its effect on gut microbiota remained unknown. Here, we examined the effects of JMT on behavior, pathomorphology and gut microbiota in streptozotocin (STZ)-induced DPN rats. Compared to distilled water administration, JMT reversed decreases in mechanical withdraw threshold and intraepidermal nerve fiber density, improved neurological morphology of sciatic nerves, increased serum neuregulin 1 (NRG1) level and contactin-associated protein (Caspr)-positive paranodes, and decreased amyloid precursor protein (APP) accumulation in DPN rats. More importantly, JMT enriched nine species of the gut microbiota of DPN rats, helping to prevent dysbiosis. Among these species, p_Actinobacteria, p_Proteobacteria and c_ Actinobacteria were negatively correlated with DPN phenotypes and positively correlated with serum NRG1 level. These results indicate that JMT may exert a neuroprotective effect by modulating phenotype-associated gut microbiota and increasing serum NRG1 level in STZ-induced DPN rats. JMT may therefore be an effective complementary and alternative anti-DPN therapy.