Transcriptional landscape in rat intestines under hypobaric hypoxia

Abstract

Oxygen metabolism is closely related to the intestinal homeostasis environment, and the occurrence of many intestinal diseases is as a result of the destruction of oxygen gradients. The hypobaric hypoxic environment of the plateau can cause dysfunction of the intestine for humans, such as inflammation. The compensatory response of the small intestine cells to the harsh environment definitely changes their gene expression. How the small intestine cells response the hypobaric hypoxic environment is still unclear. We studied the rat small intestine under hypobaric hypoxic conditions to explore the transcriptional changes in rats under acute/chronic hypobaric hypoxic conditions. We randomly divided rats into three groups: normal control group (S), acute hypobaric hypoxia group, exposing to hypobaric hypoxic condition for 2 weeks (W2S) and chronic hypobaric hypoxia group, exposing to hypobaric hypoxic condition for 4 weeks (W4S). The RNA sequencing was performed on the small intestine tissues of the three groups of rats. The results of principal component analysis showed that the W4S and W2S groups were quite different from the control group. We identified a total of 636 differentially expressed genes, such as ATP binding cassette, Ace2 and Fabp. KEGG pathway analysis identified several metabolic and digestive pathways, such as PPAR signaling pathway, glycerolipid metabolism, fat metabolism, mineral absorption and vitamin metabolism. Cogena analysis found that up-regulation of digestive and metabolic functions began from the second week of high altitude exposure. Our study highlights the critical role of metabolic and digestive pathways of the intestine in response to the hypobaric hypoxic environment, provides new aspects for the molecular effects of hypobaric hypoxic environment on intestine, and raises further questions about between the lipid metabolism disorders and inflammation.

Divergence of Liver Lipidomes in Tibetan and Yorkshire Pigs Living at Different Altitudes

“…In contrast, the DALs in the livers of Yorkshire pigs raised at different altitudes SNY/LZY) were only significantly enriched in four KEEGG pathways, including ‘Bile secretion’, ‘Steroid biosynthesis’, ‘Ovarian steroidogenesis’, and ‘Biosynthesis of unsaturated fatty acids’, showing significant differences from the pattern found in Tibetan pigs. Metabolic pathways such as ‘Thermogenesis’ and ‘Glycerolipid metabolism’ have been found to play an important role in the adaptation of animals to changes in altitude [ 24 , 25 , 26 ].…”

Gut Microbiome-Targeted Modulations Regulate Metabolic Profiles and Alleviate Altitude-Related Cardiac Hypertrophy in Rats

“…Hypobaric hypoxia induces substantial metabolic reprogramming ( 44 , 45 ). To comprehensively profile these metabolic shifts, we measured a large number of fecal and plasma metabolites, probably the largest to our knowledge.…”

Lactobacillus johnsonii YH1136 plays a protective role against endogenous pathogenic bacteria induced intestinal dysfunction by reconstructing gut microbiota in mice exposed at high altitude

“…High-altitude areas have lower air pressure and oxygen levels compared to low-altitude areas, which has an impact on the physiological functions of animals and humans, particularly on intestinal microbiota and function ( 2 , 3 , 27 ), inducing gastrointestinal diseases and intestinal microbiota disorders ( 6 , 28 , 29 ). In the past decades of research, changes in the gut microbiota have been increasingly associated with the development of a variety of gastro-intestinal diseases such as inflammatory diseases ( 8 , 30 – 32 ).…”