Dietary Boswellia serrata Acid Alters the Gut Microbiome and Blood Metabolites in Experimental Models

Abstract

Boswellia serrata, commonly known as frankincense, has been used for centuries as a natural anti-inflammatory and anti-microbial remedy for many illnesses. However, the effect of the bioactive ingredient of it, 3-O-acetyl-11-keto-b-boswellic acid (AKBA), on both the gut microbiome and blood metabolites, is not known. In this study, we observe the effect of this isolated active ingredient orally on both male and female mice. Gut microbiota and blood metabolites were determined at the beginning and end of a 14-day consumption period. AKBA significantly decreased gut bacterial richness in male mice, and had no effect on female mice. Akkermansia muciniphila, associated with weight loss and anti-inflammation, was found to be significantly increased in both male and female mice, along with an increase in Bifidobacterium in female mice. Akkermansia muciniphila and Bifidobacterium were plated on media containing varying levels of AKBA (0%, 0.001%, 0.01%, and 0.1%). All concentrations of AKBA completely inhibited growth of Akkermansia muciniphila but had no effect on Bifidobacterium. Several blood metabolites differed with AKBA between both males and females. These results show the potential benefits of dietary Boswellia serrata on the modulation of gut microbiome composition, along with differences between sexes.

Sports-Related Gastrointestinal Disorders: From the Microbiota to the Possible Role of Nutraceuticals, a Narrative Analysis

“…AKBA was tested on male and female mice, demonstrating a significant reduction in gut bacterial richness in male mice but no effect on females. However, both male and female mice showed an increase in Akkermansia muciniphila, and in females, also in Bifidobacterium [121]. These results suggest a potential prebiotic effect of AKBA, which could positively influence the composition of the gut microbiota.…”

Microbiome-derived bacterial lipids regulate gene expression of proinflammatory pathway inhibitors in systemic monocytes

“…1) DNA was isolated from mouse stool samples using the ZymoBIOMICS® DNA Miniprep Kit. Amplification of the V4 region of 16S rRNA gene was performed by PCR using a 515F forward primer for all samples and a unique bar-coded 806R reverse primer for each individual sample, as previously performed ( 21 ). Amplified PCR products were sequenced on an Illumina MiSeq platform using the MiSeq Reagent Kit v2 (2 × 250 reads, 500 cycles, Cat #MS-102–2003).…”

Growth performance, carcass traits and meat physical characteristics of growing Japanese quail fed ginger powder and frankincense oil as feed additives

“…Boswellia serrata is the source of frankincense, a tropical tree extract that boosts immunity, offers antioxidants, and fights gram-positive bacteria ( Suther et al, 2022 ). The antimicrobial properties of frankincense, namely monoterpene, diterpene, and ciscoterpene, are responsible for its effectiveness against bacteria and are utilized for treating bacterial illnesses such as Salmonella and E. coli ( Camarda et al, 2007 ).…”