Low potassium disrupt intestinal barrier and result in bacterial translocation

Abstract

Background Bacterial translocation was observed in critical illness and patients with chronic diseases such as liver cirrhosis and chronic kidney disease (CKD). Hypokalemia is a common complication in these diseases. Whether low potassium diet may increase intestinal permeability and result in bacterial translocation lack of evidence. The present study was aimed to investigate the potential effects of LK on intestinal permeability. Methods Grade 8-week-old male Bal B/C mice were randomly placed either on a normal potassium (NK) mouse chow or a low potassium (LK) diet for 28 days. Intestinal permeability and expression of tight junction proteins were compared between the two groups. Results Compared with the NK group, the mice in LK group had significantly lower serum potassium level, increased levels of plasmas endotoxin and plasma d-lactate. The bacterial translocation was higher and in occurred mainly in mesenteric lymph nodes (MLN), liver and spleen. The pathologic change of small intestine was obvious with thinner villus lamina propria, shorter crypt depth and thinner intestinal wall. Slight increases in the expression of proteins and mRNA levels of both claudin-1 and claudin-2 were observed in LK group. Conclusions Low potassium diet could increase intestinal permeability and thereby lead to bacterial translocation, which was suspected to result from impaired intestinal epithelial barrier and biological barrier.

Changes in Bacterial Gut Composition in Parkinson’s Disease and Their Metabolic Contribution to Disease Development: A Gut Community Reconstruction Approach

“…In our cohort, the PD patients showed a smaller intake of potassium compared with healthy controls, which, based on other studies, may be related to the impaired intestinal barrier and may alter the cellular signaling in the basal ganglia. Recently, a study of mice reported that a low potassium diet could increase intestinal permeability, which may result in bacterial translocation [ 102 ]. Additionally, changes in potassium could influence the regulation of K(+) channels and are important for cellular signaling in the basal ganglia; therefore, impairments in potassium could also have a relation with PD disease [ 103 , 104 , 105 ].…”