Vitamin D receptor promotes healthy microbial metabolites and microbiome

Sci Rep. 2020 Apr 30;10(1):7340. doi: 10.1038/s41598-020-64226-7.

Abstract

Microbiota derived metabolites act as chemical messengers that elicit a profound impact on host physiology. Vitamin D receptor (VDR) is a key genetic factor for shaping the host microbiome. However, it remains unclear how microbial metabolites are altered in the absence of VDR. We investigated metabolites from mice with tissue-specific deletion of VDR in intestinal epithelial cells or myeloid cells. Conditional VDR deletion severely changed metabolites specifically produced from carbohydrate, protein, lipid, and bile acid metabolism. Eighty-four out of 765 biochemicals were significantly altered due to the Vdr status, and 530 significant changes were due to the high-fat diet intervention. The impact of diet was more prominent due to loss of VDR as indicated by the differences in metabolites generated from energy expenditure, tri-carboxylic acid cycle, tocopherol, polyamine metabolism, and bile acids. The effect of HFD was more pronounced in female mice after VDR deletion. Interestingly, the expression levels of farnesoid X receptor in liver and intestine were significantly increased after intestinal epithelial VDR deletion and were further increased by the high-fat diet. Our study highlights the gender differences, tissue specificity, and potential gut-liver-microbiome axis mediated by VDR that might trigger downstream metabolic disorders.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Bile Acids and Salts / metabolism
  • Carbohydrate Metabolism
  • Diet, High-Fat
  • Energy Metabolism
  • Female
  • Gastrointestinal Microbiome*
  • Gene Deletion
  • Intestines
  • Lipid Metabolism / genetics
  • Liver / metabolism
  • Male
  • Metabolic Syndrome / genetics
  • Mice
  • Mice, Knockout
  • Myeloid Cells / microbiology*
  • Polyamines / metabolism
  • Receptors, Calcitriol / genetics*
  • Receptors, Cytoplasmic and Nuclear / genetics
  • Sex Factors
  • Signal Transduction
  • Tocopherols / metabolism

Substances

  • Bile Acids and Salts
  • Polyamines
  • Receptors, Calcitriol
  • Receptors, Cytoplasmic and Nuclear
  • Vdr protein, mouse
  • farnesoid X-activated receptor
  • Tocopherols