Transient Osmotic Perturbation Causes Long-Term Alteration to the Gut Microbiota.
Osmotic diarrhea is a prevalent condition in humans caused by food intolerance, malabsorption, and widespread laxative use. Here, we assess the resilience of the gut ecosystem to osmotic perturbation at multiple length and timescales using mice as model hosts. Osmotic stress caused reproducible extinction of highly abundant taxa and expansion of less prevalent members in human and mouse microbiotas. Quantitative imaging revealed decimation of the mucus barrier during osmotic perturbation, followed by recovery. The immune system exhibited temporary changes in cytokine levels and a lasting IgG response against commensal bacteria. Increased osmolality prevented growth of commensal strains in vitro, revealing one mechanism contributing to extinction. Environmental availability of microbiota members mitigated extinction events, demonstrating how species reintroduction can affect community resilience. Our findings (1) demonstrate that even mild osmotic diarrhea can cause lasting changes to the microbiota and host and (2) lay the foundation for interventions that increase system-wide resilience.
['Tropini|Carolina|C|', 'Moss|Eli Lin|EL|', 'Merrill|Bryan Douglas|BD|', 'Ng|Katharine Michelle|KM|', 'Higginbottom|Steven Kyle|SK|', 'Casavant|Ellen Pun|EP|', 'Gonzalez|Carlos Gutierrez|CG|', 'Fremin|Brayon|B|', 'Bouley|Donna Michelle|DM|', 'Elias|Joshua Eric|JE|', 'Bhatt|Ami Siddharth|AS|', 'Huang|Kerwyn Casey|KC|', 'Sonnenburg|Justin Laine|JL|']
D000818:Animals D041963:Bacteroidetes D002432:Cecum D003106:Colon D016207:Cytokines D003967:Diarrhea D005243:Feces D000069196:Gastrointestinal Microbiome D006026:Glycoside Hydrolases D006801:Humans D056724:Immunity, Humoral D007074:Immunoglobulin G D007413:Intestinal Mucosa D056186:Metagenomics D051379:Mice D009994:Osmolar Concentration D011092:Polyethylene Glycols D020543:Proteome D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S D061327:Verrucomicrobia
osmotic perturbation microbiota diarrhea PEG S24-7 immune monitoring metagenomics microbiome proteomics transcriptomics