The divergent impacts on gut microbiome and host metabolism by Traditional Chinese Medicine with Cold or Hot property in mice

Abstract

Abstract Background Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) has been practiced and developed in China over thousands of years under the guidance of a series of complicated traditional theories. Herbs within TCM usually are classified into different properties ranging from cold, cool, warm to hot, which are simplified as Cold and Hot properties. TCMs with either Cold or Hot property are differently used in formulae for the purpose of overcoming the imbalance of patients. Emerging evidence has highlighted that altered gut microbiota or host metabolism are critically involved in affecting TCM properties. However, the exact influences and crosstalk on gut microbiota and host metabolism remain poorly understood. Methods In current study, we investigated the divergent impacts of six TCMs with either Cold or Hot properties on gut microbiome and host metabolism during short- or long-term intervention in mice. Six typical TCMs with Hot or Cold properties including Cinnamomum cassia (L.)J.Presl (rougui, RG), Zingiber officinale Rosc. (ganjiang, GJ), Aconitum carmichaeli Debx. (fuzi, FZ), Rheum palmatum L. (dahuang, DH), Scutellaria baicalensis Georgi (huangqin, HQ), and Coptis chinensis Franch. (huanglian, HL) were selected and orally administrated on male C57BL/6J mice for a short- or long-term (7 or 35 days). At the end of experiments, serum and cecal contents were collected for metabolomic and gut microbiome analysis with GC-MS or 16S rDNA sequencing. Results The results showed that gut microbiome experienced divergent changes both in composition and function by short-term intervention of TCM with either Cold or Hot properties, whereas long-term intervention of Hot TCM reduced the number of changed genus and functional pathways of bacteria, but were increased by Cold TCM, especially in HL group. The serum metabolic profile showed the Glycolipid metabolism related pathways were specifically regulated by Cold TCM, and the influence of TCM on host metabolism minimized with time. Further correlation analysis indicated the altered gut microbiota was closely correlated with serum metabolites as well. Conclusion Our results indicated that the TCM properties could be, at least partially, characterized by the alteration of gut microbiota and metabolic profile, implying that the divergent responses of gut microbiome and host metabolism are involved in different natures of TCM.