A potential marker of radiation based on 16S rDNA in the rat model: Intestinal flora

PLOS ONE RESEARCH ARTICLE A potential marker of radiation based on 16S rDNA in the rat model: Intestinal flora Liying Zhang1‡, Zhiming Miao1‡, Yangyang Li1, Xiaomin Xu1,2, Ting Zhou1, Yiming Zhang1, Yongqi Liu ID1,3* a1111111111 a1111111111 a1111111111 a1111111111 a1111111111 1 Provincial-Level Key Laboratory for Molecular Medicine of Major Diseases and The Prevention and Treatment with Traditional Chinese Medicine Research in Gansu Colleges and Universities, Gansu University of Chinese Medicine, Lanzhou, Gansu, China, 2 Medical College of Hexi University, Zhangye, Gansu, China, 3 Key Laboratory of Dunhuang Medicine and Transformation at Provincial and Ministerial Level, Gansu University of Chinese Medicine, Lanzhou, Gansu, China ‡ LZ and ZM are co-first authors on this work. * Abstract OPEN ACCESS Citation: Zhang L, Miao Z, Li Y, Xu X, Zhou T, Zhang Y, et al. (2023) A potential marker of radiation based on 16S rDNA in the rat model: Intestinal flora. PLoS ONE 18(8): e0286026. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0286026 Editor: Awatif Abid Al-Judaibi, University of Jeddah, SAUDI ARABIA Received: October 18, 2022 Accepted: May 6, 2023 Published: August 1, 2023 Peer Review History: PLOS recognizes the benefits of transparency in the peer review process; therefore, we enable the publication of all of the content of peer review and author responses alongside final, published articles. The editorial history of this article is available here: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0286026 Copyright: © 2023 Zhang et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Data Availability Statement: All relevant data are within the manuscript and its Supporting Information files. The gastrointestinal microbiota plays an important role in the function of the host intestine. However, little is currently known about the effects of irradiation on the microorganisms colonizing the mucosal surfaces of the gastrointestinal tract. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of X-ray irradiation on the compositions of the large intestinal Microbiotas of the rat. The gut microbiotas in control mice and mice receiving irradiation with different dose treatment were characterized by high-throughput sequencing of the bacterial 16S rDNA gene and their metabolites were detected by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Unexpectedly, the diversity was increased mildly at 2Gy irradiation, and dose dependent decreased at 4Gy, 6Gy, 8Gy irradiation. The phyla with large changes in phylum level are Firmicutes, Bacteroides and Proteobacteria; the abundance ratio of Firmicutes/Bacteroides is inverted; and when 8Gy is irradiated, the phylum abundance level was significantly increased. At the genus level, the abundance levels of Phascolarctobacterium, Ruminococcaceae and Lachnospiraceae increased at 2Gy irradiation, and significantly decreased at 4Gy, 6Gy, and 8Gy irradiation; the abundance level of Prevotellaceae diminished at 2Gy irradiation, and enhanced at 4Gy, 6Gy, 8Gy irradiation; The abundance level of Violet bacteria (Christenellaceae) and Lactobacillus attenuated in a dose-dependent manner; Lachnoclostridium enhanced in a dose-dependent manner; Bacteroides was in 4Gy, 6Gy, 8Gy The abundance level increased significantly during irradiation; the abundance level of Shigella (Escherichia-Shigella) only increased significantly during 8Gy irradiation. Lefse predicts that the biomarker at 0Gy group is Veillonellaceae, the biomarker at 2Gy group is Firmicutes, the biomarkers at 4Gy group are Dehalobacterium and Dehalobacteriaceae, the biomarkers at 6Gy group are Odoribacter, and the biomarkers at 8Gy group are Anaerotruncus, Holdemania, Proteus, Bilophila, Desufovibrionales and Deltaproteobacteria. Overall, the data presented here reveal that X-ray irradiation can cause imbalance of the intestinal flora in rats; different doses of irradiation can cause different types of bacteria change. Representative bacteria can be selected as biomarkers for radiation damage and repair.This may contribute to the development of radiation resistance in the future. Funding: We confirm that the following projects have funded us National Natural Science PLOS ONE | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0286026 August 1, 2023 1 / 12 PLOS ONE Foundation of China, 82260882 Li-Ying Zhang National Natural Science Foundation of China, 82004094 YongQi Liu Longyuan Youth Innovation and Entrepreneurship Talent Project in 2021, GZTZ [2021]17-1 Li-Ying Zhang Natural Science Foundation of Gansu Province, 20JR10RA318 LiYing Zhang Natural Science Foundation of Gansu Province, 20JR10RA332 YongQi Liu China Postdoctoral Science Foundation Project, 2021M693794 Li-Ying Zhang Lanzhou City Health Key Science and Technology Development Project, 2021006 Li-Ying Zhang Funders YongQi Liu and Li-Ying Zhang conceived and designed the experiments, and provided the funding required for the experiments. Competing interests: NO authors have competing interests Enter: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist. A potential marker of radiation based on 16S rDNA in the rat model Introduction Many studies have highlighted the presence of as many as 100 trillion bacterial species in the human gut, which represent several times as many cell populations as somatic and germ cells in the human host [1–3]. These commensal bacteria of the gut are collectively called "gut microbiota," and increasing evidence suggests that the composition of gut microbiota is closely related to the health of the host, including the onset of disease [4, 5]. Increasing evidence shows that the human gut microbiome plays a role in keeping the organism in a steady state, and intestinal dysbacteriosis is often accompanied by obesity [6], cardiovascular disease, inflammation disease [7], immune function disorder [8], metabolic disease [9–11] and even cancer [12]. Therefore, homeostasis of gut microbiota plays an important role in maintaining human health. X-ray is one of the most used radiation therapies in clinic. Casero found after irradiation, it can cause DNA double strand or single strand breaks and other biological effects. David C et al in 2017 found it has been shown that the gut microbiota regulates the efficacy of radiotherapy and chemotherapy through a "TIMER" mechanism, which suggests a reduction in translocation, immune regulation, metabolism, enzymatic degradation, and diversity. Gut microbiota [13] and most tissue cells [14, 15] in the body are sensitive to X-ray, especially those with active proliferation. Casero found that the mouse gut microbiome was response to 16O radiation, dose-dependent changes in microflora diversity and composition of specific groups [16]. Zhang also shows that gut microbiome is very sensitive to IR and can be used as radiation (...truncated)