5-Aminosalicylic Acid Ameliorates Colitis and Checks Dysbiotic Escherichia coli Expansion by Activating PPAR-gamma Signaling in the Intestinal Epithelium.

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Citation

Cevallos SA, Lee JY, Velazquez EM, Foegeding NJ, Shelton CD, Tiffany CR, Parry BH, Stull-Lane AR, Olsan EE, Savage HP, Nguyen H, Ghanaat SS, Byndloss AJ, Agu IO, Tsolis RM, Byndloss MX, Baumler AJ

5-Aminosalicylic Acid Ameliorates Colitis and Checks Dysbiotic Escherichia coli Expansion by Activating PPAR-gamma Signaling in the Intestinal Epithelium.

mBio. 2021 Jan 19;12(1):e03227-20. doi: 10.1128/mBio.03227-20.

PubMed ID
33468700 [ View in PubMed
]
Abstract

5-Aminosalicylic acid (5-ASA), a peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPAR-gamma) agonist, is a widely used first-line medication for the treatment of ulcerative colitis, but its anti-inflammatory mechanism is not fully resolved. Here, we show that 5-ASA ameliorates colitis in dextran sulfate sodium (DSS)-treated mice by activating PPAR-gamma signaling in the intestinal epithelium. DSS-induced colitis was associated with a loss of epithelial hypoxia and a respiration-dependent luminal expansion of Escherichia coli, which could be ameliorated by treatment with 5-ASA. However, 5-ASA was no longer able to reduce inflammation, restore epithelial hypoxia, or blunt an expansion of E. coli in DSS-treated mice that lacked Pparg expression specifically in the intestinal epithelium. These data suggest that the anti-inflammatory activity of 5-ASA requires activation of epithelial PPAR-gamma signaling, thus pointing to the intestinal epithelium as a potential target for therapeutic intervention in ulcerative colitis.IMPORTANCE An expansion of Enterobacterales in the fecal microbiota is a microbial signature of dysbiosis that is linked to many noncommunicable diseases, including ulcerative colitis. Here, we used Escherichia coli, a representative of the Enterobacterales, to show that its dysbiotic expansion during colitis can be remediated by modulating host epithelial metabolism. Dextran sulfate sodium (DSS)-induced colitis reduced mitochondrial activity in the colonic epithelium, thereby increasing the amount of oxygen available to fuel an E. coli expansion through aerobic respiration. Activation of epithelial peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPAR-gamma) signaling with 5-aminosalicylic acid (5-ASA) was sufficient to restore mitochondrial activity and blunt a dysbiotic E. coli expansion. These data identify the host's epithelial metabolism as a potential treatment target to remediate microbial signatures of dysbiosis, such as a dysbiotic E. coli expansion in the fecal microbiota.

DrugBank Data that Cites this Article

Drugs
Drug Targets
DrugTargetKindOrganismPharmacological ActionActions
SulfasalazinePeroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gammaProteinHumans
Unknown
Agonist
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