Exercise modifies the disease-relevant gut microbial shifts in post-traumatic osteoarthritis rats

Xiaoxia Hao; Jiaming Zhang; Xingru Shang; Kai Sun; Jun Zhou; Jiawei Liu; Ruimin Chi; Tao Xu

doi:10.1302/2046-3758.114.BJR-2021-0192.R1

Exercise modifies the disease-relevant gut microbial shifts in post-traumatic osteoarthritis rats

Bone Joint Res. 2022 Apr;11(4):214-225. doi: 10.1302/2046-3758.114.BJR-2021-0192.R1.

Authors

Xiaoxia Hao¹, Jiaming Zhang^{2

3}, Xingru Shang¹, Kai Sun², Jun Zhou^{4

5}, Jiawei Liu¹, Ruimin Chi¹, Tao Xu¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Rehabilitation, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China.
² Department of Orthopedics, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China.
³ Cancer Center, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China.
⁴ Department of Conservative Dentistry, Division of Biomaterials and Engineering, Showa University School of Dentistry, Tokyo, Japan.
⁵ School of Stomatology, Hospital of Stomatology, Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin, China.

PMID: 35382556
PMCID: PMC9057523
DOI: 10.1302/2046-3758.114.BJR-2021-0192.R1

Abstract

Aims: Post-traumatic osteoarthritis (PTOA) is a subset of osteoarthritis (OA). The gut microbiome is shown to be involved in OA. However, the effect of exercise on gut microbiome in PTOA remains elusive.

Methods: A total of 18 eight-week Sprague-Dawley rats were assigned into three groups: Sham/sedentary (Sham/Sed), PTOA/sedentary (PTOA/Sed), and PTOA/treadmill-walking (PTOA/TW). PTOA model was induced by transection of the anterior cruciate ligament (ACLT) and the destabilization of the medial meniscus (DMM). Treadmill-walking (15 m/min, 30 min/d, five days/week for eight weeks) was employed in the PTOA/TW group. The response of cartilage, subchondral bone, serology, and gut microbiome and their correlations were assessed.

Results: Eight-week treadmill-walking was effective at maintaining the integrity of cartilage-subchondral bone unit and reducing the elevated systematic inflammation factors and microbiome-derived metabolites. Furthermore, 16S ribosomal ribonucleic acid (rRNA) sequencing showed disease-relevant microbial shifts in PTOA animals, characterized by the decreased abundance of phylum TM7 and the increase of phylum Fusobacteria. At the genus level, the abundance of Lactobacillus, Turicibacter, Adlercreutzia, and Cetobacterium were increased in the PTOA animals, while the increase of Adlercreutzia and Cetobacterium was weakened as a response to exercise. The correlation analysis showed that genus Lactobacillus and Adlercreutzia were correlated to the structural OA phenotypes, while phylum Fusobacteria and genus Cetobacterium may contribute to the effects of exercise on the diminishment of serological inflammatory factors.

Conclusion: Exercise is effective at maintaining the integrity of cartilage-subchondral bone unit, and the exercise-induced modification of disease-relevant microbial shifts is potentially involved in the mechanisms of exercise-induced amelioration of PTOA. Cite this article: Bone Joint Res 2022;11(4):214-225.

Keywords: ACLT; Cartilage-subchondral bone unit; Exercise; Microbiome; Osteoarthritis (OA); Post-traumatic osteoarthritis; Serology; anterior cruciate ligament; cartilage; inflammation; mouse model; post-traumatic osteoarthritis; ribonucleic acid; subchondral bone.