Characterization of local gut microbiome and intestinal transcriptome responses to rosiglitazone treatment in diabetic db/db mice

A comprehensive assessment of the association between common drugs and psychiatric disorders using Mendelian randomization and real-world pharmacovigilance database

BACKGROUND

Medications prescribed for chronic diseases can lead to short-term neuropsychiatric symptoms, but their long-term effects on brain structures and psychiatric conditions remain unclear.

METHODS

We comprehensively analyzed the FDA Adverse Event Reporting System database and conducted drug target Mendelian Randomization (MR) studies on six categories of common drugs, 477 brain imaging-derived phenotypes (IDPs) and eight psychiatric disorders. Genetic instruments were extracted from expression quantitative trait loci (eQTLs) in blood, brain, and other target tissues, protein quantitative trait loci (pQTLs) in blood, and genome-wide association studies (GWAS) of hemoglobin and cholesterol. Summary statistics for brain IDPs, psychiatric disorders, and gut microbiome were obtained from the BIG40, Psychiatric Genomics Consortium, and MiBioGen. A two-step MR and mediation analysis were employed to screen possible mediators of drug-IDP effects from 119 gut microbiota genera and identify their mediation proportions.

FINDINGS

Among 19 drug classes, six drugs were found to be associated with higher risks of psychiatric adverse events, while 11 drugs were associated with higher risks of gastrointestinal adverse events in the FAERS analysis. We identified ten drug-psychiatric disorder associations, 202 drug-IDP associations, 16 drug-microbiota associations, and four drug-microbiota-IDP causal links. For example, PPARG activation mediated HbA1c reduction caused a higher risk of bipolar disorder (BD) II. Genetically proxied GLP-1R agonists were significantly associated with an increase in the volume of the CA3-head of the right hippocampus and the area of the left precuneus cortex, both of which have been shown to correlate with cognition in previous studies.

INTERPRETATION

Common drugs may affect brain structure and risk of psychiatric disorder. Oral medications in particular may exert some of these effects by influencing gut microbiota. This study calls for greater attention to be paid to the neuropsychiatric adverse effects of drugs and encourages drug repurposing.

FUNDING

National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant No. 82330035, 82130043, 82172685, and 82001223), National Natural Science Foundation of Hunan Province (grant No. 2021SK1010), and the Science Foundation for Distinguished Young Scholars of Changsha (grant No. kq2209006).

Rosiglitazone Does Not Affect the Risk of Inflammatory Bowel Disease: A Retrospective Cohort Study in Taiwanese Type 2 Diabetes Patients

Human studies on the effect of rosiglitazone on inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) are still lacking. We investigated whether rosiglitazone might affect IBD risk by using the reimbursement database of Taiwan's National Health Insurance to enroll a propensity-score-matched cohort of ever users and never users of rosiglitazone. The patients should have been newly diagnosed with diabetes mellitus between 1999 and 2006 and should have been alive on 1 January 2007. We then started to follow the patients from 1 January 2007 until 31 December 2011 for a new diagnosis of IBD. Propensity-score-weighted hazard ratios were estimated with regards to rosiglitazone exposure in terms of ever users versus never users and in terms of cumulative duration and cumulative dose of rosiglitazone therapy for dose-response analyses. The joint effects and interactions between rosiglitazone and risk factors of psoriasis/arthropathies, dorsopathies, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease/tobacco abuse and the use of metformin were estimated by Cox regression after adjustment for all covariates. A total of 6226 ever users and 6226 never users were identified and the respective numbers of incident IBD were 95 and 111. When we compared the risk of IBD in ever users to that of the never users, the estimated hazard ratio (0.870, 95% confidence interval: 0.661-1.144) was not statistically significant. When cumulative duration and cumulative dose of rosiglitazone therapy were categorized by tertiles and hazard ratios were estimated by comparing the tertiles of rosiglitazone exposure to the never users, none of the hazard ratios reached statistical significance. In secondary analyses, rosiglitazone has a null association with Crohn's disease, but a potential benefit on ulcerative colitis (UC) could not be excluded. However, because of the low incidence of UC, we were not able to perform detailed dose-response analyses for UC. In the joint effect analyses, only the subgroup of psoriasis/arthropathies (-)/rosiglitazone (-) showed a significantly lower risk in comparison to the subgroup of psoriasis/arthropathies (+)/rosiglitazone (-). No interactions between rosiglitazone and the major risk factors or metformin use were observed. We concluded that rosiglitazone has a null effect on the risk of IBD, but the potential benefit on UC awaits further investigation.

AM-879, a PPARy non-agonist and Ser273 phosphorylation blocker, promotes insulin sensitivity without adverse effects in mice

Obesity is one of the main risk factors for type 2 diabetes, and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ (PPARγ) is considered a promising pathway on insulin sensitivity and adipose tissue metabolism. The search for molecules acting as insulin sensitizers have increased, especially for molecules that block PPARγ-Ser273 phosphorylation, without reaching full agonism. We evaluated the in vivo effects of AM-879, a PPARγ non-agonist, and found that AM-879 exerts different effects in mice depending on the dose. At lower doses, this ligand decreased BAT, increased leptin and Crh expression. However, at a higher dose, it promoted improvement on insulin sensitivity, ameliorates expression of metabolism-related genes, decreased the expression of genes related to liver toxicity, maintaining body weight and adipocyte size. These results present a new lead molecule to ameliorates insulin resistance and confirm AM-879 as a PPARγ non-agonist which blocks Ser273 phosphorylation as a good strategy to modulate insulin sensitivity without developing the adverse effects promoted by PPARγ full agonists.

Pharmacomicrobiomics and type 2 diabetes mellitus: A novel perspective towards possible treatment

Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), a major driver of mortality worldwide, is more likely to develop other cardiometabolic risk factors, ultimately leading to diabetes-related mortality. Although a set of measures including lifestyle intervention and antidiabetic drugs have been proposed to manage T2DM, problems associated with potential side-effects and drug resistance are still unresolved. Pharmacomicrobiomics is an emerging field that investigates the interactions between the gut microbiome and drug response variability or drug toxicity. In recent years, increasing evidence supports that the gut microbiome, as the second genome, can serve as an attractive target for improving drug efficacy and safety by manipulating its composition. In this review, we outline the different composition of gut microbiome in T2DM and highlight how these microbiomes actually play a vital role in its development. Furthermore, we also investigate current state-of-the-art knowledge on pharmacomicrobiomics and microbiome's role in modulating the response to antidiabetic drugs, as well as provide innovative potential personalized treatments, including approaches for predicting response to treatment and for modulating the microbiome to improve drug efficacy or reduce drug toxicity.

Type 2 diabetes, gut microbiome, and systems biology: A novel perspective for a new era

The association between the physio-pathological variables of type 2 diabetes (T2D) and gut microbiota composition suggests a new avenue to track the disease and improve the outcomes of pharmacological and non-pharmacological treatments. This enterprise requires new strategies to elucidate the metabolic disturbances occurring in the gut microbiome as the disease progresses. To this end, physiological knowledge and systems biology pave the way for characterizing microbiota and identifying strategies in a move toward healthy compositions. Here, we dissect the recent associations between gut microbiota and T2D. In addition, we discuss recent advances in how drugs, diet, and exercise modulate the microbiome to favor healthy stages. Finally, we present computational approaches for disentangling the metabolic activity underlying host-microbiota codependence. Altogether, we envision that the combination of physiology and computational modeling of microbiota metabolism will drive us to optimize the diagnosis and treatment of T2D patients in a personalized way.

Gut Microbiota and Antidiabetic Drugs: Perspectives of Personalized Treatment in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus

Alterations in the composition and function of the gut microbiota have been reported in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Emerging studies show that prescribed antidiabetic drugs distort the gut microbiota signature associated with T2DM. Even more importantly, accumulated evidence provides support for the notion that gut microbiota, in turn, mediates the efficacy and safety of antidiabetic drugs. In this review, we highlight the current state-of-the-art knowledge on the crosstalk and interactions between gut microbiota and antidiabetic drugs, including metformin, α-glucosidase inhibitors, glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists, dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitors, sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 inhibitors, traditional Chinese medicines and other antidiabetic drugs, as well as address corresponding microbial-based therapeutics, aiming to provide novel preventative strategies and personalized therapeutic targets in T2DM.

The Relationships between Gut Microbiota and Diabetes Mellitus, and Treatments for Diabetes Mellitus

Diabetes mellitus is considered to be a global epidemic. The combination of genetic susceptibility and an unhealthy lifestyle is considered to be the main trigger of this metabolic disorder. Recently, there has been increased interest in the roles of gut microbiota as a new potential contributor to this epidemic. Research, in recent years, has contributed to an in-depth characterization of the human microbiome and its associations with various diseases, including metabolic diseases and diabetes mellitus. It is known that diet can change the composition of gut microbiota, but it is unclear how this, in turn, may influence metabolism. The main objective of this review is to evaluate the pathogenetic association between microbiota and diabetes and to explore any new therapeutic agents, including nutraceuticals that may modulate the microbiota. We also look at several mechanisms involved in this process. There is a clear, bidirectional relationship between microbiota and diabetes. Current treatments for diabetes influence microbiota in various ways, some beneficial, but others with still unclear effects. Microbiota-aimed treatments have seen no real-world significant effects on the progression of diabetes and its complications, with more studies needed in order to find a really beneficial agent.

Effects of Oral Glucose-Lowering Agents on Gut Microbiota and Microbial Metabolites

The current research and existing facts indicate that type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is characterized by gut microbiota dysbiosis and disturbed microbial metabolites. Oral glucose-lowering drugs are reported with pleiotropic beneficial effects, including not only a decrease in glucose level but also weight loss, antihypertension, anti-inflammation, and cardiovascular protection, but the underlying mechanisms are still not clear. Evidence can be found showing that oral glucose-lowering drugs might modify the gut microbiome and thereby alter gastrointestinal metabolites to improve host health. Although the connections among gut microbial communities, microbial metabolites, and T2DM are complex, figuring out how antidiabetic agents shape the gut microbiome is vital for optimizing the treatment, meaningful for the instruction for probiotic therapy and gut microbiota transplantation in T2DM. In this review, we focused on the literatures in gut microbiota and its metabolite profile alterations beneficial from oral antidiabetic drugs, trying to provide implications for future study in the developing field of these drugs, such as combination therapies, pre- and probiotics intervention in T2DM, and subjects with pregestational diabetes and gestational diabetes mellitus.

New Insights of Anti-Hyperglycemic Agents and Traditional Chinese Medicine on Gut Microbiota in Type 2 Diabetes

Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is a widespread metabolic disease characterized by chronic hyperglycemia. Human microbiota, which is regarded as a “hidden organ”, plays an important role in the initiation and development of T2DM. In addition, anti-hyperglycemic agents and traditional Chinese medicine may affect the composition of gut microbiota and consequently improve glucose metabolism. However, the relationship between gut microbiota, T2DM and anti-hyperglycemic agents or traditional Chinese medicine is poorly understood. In this review, we summarized pre-clinical and clinical studies to elucidate the possible underlying mechanism. Some anti-hyperglycemic agents and traditional Chinese medicine may partly exert hypoglycemic effects by altering the gut microbiota composition in ways that reduce metabolic endotoxemia, maintain the integrity of intestinal mucosal barrier, promote the production of short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs), decrease trimethylamine-N-oxide (TMAO) and regulate bile acid metabolism. In conclusion, gut microbiota may provide some new therapeutic targets for treatment of patients with diabetes mellitus.