RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 The gut microbiota plays a protective role in the host defence against pneumococcal pneumonia
JF Gut
JO Gut
FD BMJ Publishing Group Ltd and British Society of Gastroenterology
SP 575
OP 583
DO 10.1136/gutjnl-2015-309728
VO 65
IS 4
A1 Tim J Schuijt
A1 Jacqueline M Lankelma
A1 Brendon P Scicluna
A1 Felipe de Sousa e Melo
A1 Joris J T H Roelofs
A1 J Daan de Boer
A1 Arjan J Hoogendijk
A1 Regina de Beer
A1 Alex de Vos
A1 Clara Belzer
A1 Willem M de Vos
A1 Tom van der Poll
A1 W Joost Wiersinga
YR 2016
UL http://gut.bmj.com/content/65/4/575.abstract
AB Objective Pneumonia accounts for more deaths than any other infectious disease worldwide. The intestinal microbiota supports local mucosal immunity and is increasingly recognised as an important modulator of the systemic immune system. The precise role of the gut microbiota in bacterial pneumonia, however, is unknown. Here, we investigate the function of the gut microbiota in the host defence against Streptococcus pneumoniae infections.Design We depleted the gut microbiota in C57BL/6 mice and subsequently infected them intranasally with S. pneumoniae. We then performed survival and faecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) experiments and measured parameters of inflammation and alveolar macrophage whole-genome responses.Results We found that the gut microbiota protects the host during pneumococcal pneumonia, as reflected by increased bacterial dissemination, inflammation, organ damage and mortality in microbiota-depleted mice compared with controls. FMT in gut microbiota-depleted mice led to a normalisation of pulmonary bacterial counts and tumour necrosis factor-α and interleukin-10 levels 6 h after pneumococcal infection. Whole-genome mapping of alveolar macrophages showed upregulation of metabolic pathways in the absence of a healthy gut microbiota. This upregulation correlated with an altered cellular responsiveness, reflected by a reduced responsiveness to lipopolysaccharide and lipoteichoic acid. Compared with controls, alveolar macrophages derived from gut microbiota-depleted mice showed a diminished capacity to phagocytose S. pneumoniae.Conclusions This study identifies the intestinal microbiota as a protective mediator during pneumococcal pneumonia. The gut microbiota enhances primary alveolar macrophage function. Novel therapeutic strategies could exploit the gut–lung axis in bacterial infections.