Clostridium butyricum affects muscle fiber type in mice by modulating colonic microbial structure and short-chain fatty acids content

doi:10.3969/j.issn.1004-1524.20240197

Acta Agriculturae Zhejiangensis ›› 2025, Vol. 37 ›› Issue (3): 568-578.DOI: 10.3969/j.issn.1004-1524.20240197

• Animal Science • Previous Articles Next Articles

Clostridium butyricum affects muscle fiber type in mice by modulating colonic microbial structure and short-chain fatty acids content

WU Xingfeng¹^,²(), XIAO Yingping², LYU Wentao², MA Lingyan², CHEN Qu², WEN Yang², XU E¹^,^*()

1. Key Laboratory of Genetics, Breeding and Reproduction of Plateau Mountain Animals, Ministry of Education, School of Animal Science, Guizhou University, Guiyang 550025, China
2. State Key Laboratory for Managing Biotic and Chemical Threats to the Quality and Safety of Agro-Products, Institute of Agro-Product Safety and Nutrition, Zhejiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Hangzhou 310021, China

Received:2024-02-29 Online:2025-03-25 Published:2025-04-02

Abstract

Abstract:

In order to investigate the effects of Clostridium butyricum on muscle fiber types, colonic microbial structure and short-chain fatty acids content in mice, fourteen C57BL/6J male mice were selected and divided into CB and NC groups randomly with 7 mice in each group. The mice in CB group were treated by oral gavage with 200 μL C. butyricum suspension (10⁸ CFU·mL^-1) for 8 weeks, while the mice in the NC group were given an equal amount of saline. Real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR), 16S rRNA gene sequencing and gas chromatography were used to determine the changes of muscle fiber type gene expression, intestinal microflora structure and short-chain fatty acids content in gastrocnemius muscle of mice. It was shown that the difference in muscle fiber diameter between the NC and CB groups was not significant, yet the cross-sectional area of gastrocnemius muscle fibers was significantly (P<0.05) increased in the CB group than that in the NC group. Compared with the NC group, mRNA levels of MyHC I and MyHC IIa were significantly increased in the CB group, yet the mRNA level of MyHC IIb was significantly decreased. The abundance of Bacteroidota and Proteobacteria in the intestine of the CB group was significantly increased than that of the NC group, yet the abundance of Firmicutes in the CB group was significantly decreased. The abundance of Roseburia, Bacteroides, Parabacteroides were significantly increased in the CB group than that of the NC group. The interactions between the intestinal microflora of mice in the CB group were more closely related than those in the NC group. Metabolic pathways such as citrate cycle, pantothenate and coenzyme A (CoA) biosynthesis, fatty acid biosynthesis, and fatty acid metabolism were significantly activated in the intestinal microflora of the CB group as compared with the NC group. The contents of total short-chain fatty acids, acetic acid and butyric acid in the colon of CB group were significantly higher than those in the NC group. In conclusion, Clostridium butyricum treatment affected the expression of genes related to muscle fiber types in mice by regulating the intestinal microflora and short-chain fatty acids produced by the bacteria, hence promoted the transformation of muscle fiber types.

Key words: Clostridium butyricum, muscle fiber type, intestinal microflora, short-chain fatty acid

CLC Number:

S852.2

WU Xingfeng, XIAO Yingping, LYU Wentao, MA Lingyan, CHEN Qu, WEN Yang, XU E. Clostridium butyricum affects muscle fiber type in mice by modulating colonic microbial structure and short-chain fatty acids content[J]. Acta Agriculturae Zhejiangensis, 2025, 37(3): 568-578.

Figures/Tables 9

References 37

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基因名Gene name	正向引物序列Sequence of forward primer	反向引物序列Sequence of reverse primer
MyHC I	5'-ATATACAGCCCCTGAGACCAG-3'	5'-GAACCTGGAGCCCCTTATCC-3'
MyHC IIa	5'-GAACATGGAGCAGACCGTGA-3'	5'-GCGCATGACCAAAGGTTTCA-3'
MyHC IIx	5'-GAAGTTGCATCCCTAAAGGCAG-3'	5'-CCCCTGCATTTTGCCAGAAG-3'
MyHC IIb	5'-TCACCTACCAGACCGAGGAG-3'	5'-TCTCCTGTCACCTCTCAACAGA-3'
GAPDH	5'-TTCACCACCATGGAGAAGGC-3'	5'-TGAAGTCGCAGGAGACAACC-3'

基因名Gene name	正向引物序列Sequence of forward primer	反向引物序列Sequence of reverse primer
MyHC I	5'-ATATACAGCCCCTGAGACCAG-3'	5'-GAACCTGGAGCCCCTTATCC-3'
MyHC IIa	5'-GAACATGGAGCAGACCGTGA-3'	5'-GCGCATGACCAAAGGTTTCA-3'
MyHC IIx	5'-GAAGTTGCATCCCTAAAGGCAG-3'	5'-CCCCTGCATTTTGCCAGAAG-3'
MyHC IIb	5'-TCACCTACCAGACCGAGGAG-3'	5'-TCTCCTGTCACCTCTCAACAGA-3'
GAPDH	5'-TTCACCACCATGGAGAAGGC-3'	5'-TGAAGTCGCAGGAGACAACC-3'

处理 Treatment	初始体重 Initial body weight/g	结束体重 Final body weight/g	腓肠肌质量 Gastrocnemius muscle weight/g	腓肠肌质量分数 Mass fraction of gastrocnemius muscle/%
NC	22.01	25.25	0.36	1.42
CB	21.94	24.99	0.37	1.49

处理 Treatment	初始体重 Initial body weight/g	结束体重 Final body weight/g	腓肠肌质量 Gastrocnemius muscle weight/g	腓肠肌质量分数 Mass fraction of gastrocnemius muscle/%
NC	22.01	25.25	0.36	1.42
CB	21.94	24.99	0.37	1.49

处理 Treatment	ASV数量 ASV number	香农指数 Shannon index	辛普森指数 Simpson index	Chao1指数 Chao1 index
NC	430±20	4.29±0.11	0.04±0.01	431.0±19.7
CB	432±23	4.47±0.05	0.03±0.01	433.3±22.2

Clostridium butyricum affects muscle fiber type in mice by modulating colonic microbial structure and short-chain fatty acids content

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处理 Treatment	乙酸含量 Acetic acid content	丙酸含量 Propionic acid content	异丁酸含量 Isobutyric acid content	丁酸含量 Butyric acid content	异戊酸含量 Isovaleric acid content	戊酸含量 Valeric acid content	总短链脂肪酸含量 Total short chain fatty acids content
NC	2.23±0.32	0.41±0.17	0.08±0.07	0.62±0.11	0.05±0.01	0.07±0.01	3.47±0.49
CB	3.35±0.35^*	0.56±0.24	0.46±0.19	1.15±0.14^*	0.11±0.03^*	0.14±0.03^*	5.77±0.60^*

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