Lactiplantibacillus plantarum J‐15 reduced calcium oxalate kidney stones by regulating intestinal microbiota, metabolism, and inflammation in rats

Abstract

The prevention role of Lactiplantibacillus plantarum against the formation of kidney stones has been increasingly recognized; its mechanism, however, has mainly been focused on inhibiting the inflammation in the colon in the gastrointestinal (GI) system, and the intestinal metabolites from microflora have not been revealed fully with regarding to the stone formation. In this study, we investigated the effect of L. plantarum J‐15 on kidney stone formation in renal calcium oxalate (CaOx) rats induced by ethylene glycol and monitored the changes of intestinal microflora and their metabolites detected by 16S rRNA sequencing and widely targeted analysis, followed by the evaluation of the intestinal barrier function and inflammation levels in the colon, blood and kidney. The results showed that L. plantarum J‐15 effectively reduced renal crystallization and urinary oxalic acid. Ten microbial genera, including anti‐inflammatory and SCFAs‐related Faecalibaculum, were enriched in the J‐15 treatment group. There are 136 metabolites from 11 categories significantly different in the J‐15 supplementation group compared with CaOx model rats, most of which were enriched in the amino acid metabolic and secondary bile acid pathways. The expression of intestinal tight junction protein Occludin and the concentration of pro‐inflammatory cytokines and prostaglandin were decreased in the intestine, which further reduced the translocated lipopolysaccharide and inflammation levels in the blood upon J‐15 treatment. Thus, the inflammation and injury in the kidney might be alleviated by downregulating TLR4/NF‐κB/COX‐2 signaling pathway. It suggested that L. plantarum J‐15 might reduce kidney stone formation by restoring intestinal microflora and metabolic disorder, protecting intestinal barrier function, and alleviating inflammation. This finding provides new insights into the therapies for renal stones.

Causal relationship in gut microbiota and upper urinary urolithiasis using Mendelian randomization

“…A variety of processes including supersaturation of urinary stone components, reduction of inhibitors of stone formation (Cicerello et al, 2019 ), and renal tubular epithelial cell injury (Aggarwal et al, 2013 ) are involved. Metabolism and inflammation are considered important factors involved in the formation of renal stones (Tian et al, 2022 ; Capolongo et al, 2023 ).…”

Downregulating miR-184 relieves calcium oxalate crystal-mediated renal cell damage via activating the Rap1 signaling pathway

“…In addition, calcium oxalate crystals can generate ROS directly or indirectly, leading to activation of NADPH oxidase and mitochondrial dysfunction, which finally cause renal cell apoptosis [ 22 ]. Repressing the release of pro-inflammatory cytokines, such as IL-1β, TNF-α, IL-6, and oxidative stress mediators, such as ROS, and MDA, can markedly relieve pain and cell apoptosis in kidney stones [ 23 , 24 ]. Here, we adopted glyoxylate to induce a rat renal calcinosis model and discovered that glyoxylate greatly enhanced miR-184 expression in rat kidney tissues.…”

Bifidobacterium animalis subsp. lactis Probio-M8 alleviates abnormal behavior and regulates gut microbiota in a mouse model suffering from autism

“…Fifty-five common neurotransmitters in the blood were tested by liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). Metabolite extraction was performed using a standardized procedure provided by Wuhan MetWare Biotechnology Co., Ltd. ( www.metware.cn ) ( 65 , 66 ). The entire experimental operation is carried out in a low-temperature environment.…”