Docosahexaenoic Acid Promotes Cd Excretion by Restoring the Abundance of Parabacteroides in Cd-Exposed Mice

As a common harmful pollutant, cadmium (Cd) can easily enter the human body through the food chain, posing a major threat to human health. Gut microbiota play a key role in Cd absorption. Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) is thought to have a potential role in the treatment of Cd poisoning. This study investigated the therapeutic effect and mechanism of DHA in Cd-exposed mice from the perspective of the gut microbiota. The results showed that DHA significantly increased the Cd content in feces and decreased the Cd accumulation in the organs of mice. The gut microbiota results showed that DHA significantly restored the abundance of Parabacteroides in the gut microbiota of Cd-exposed mice. Parabacteroides distasonis (P. distasonis), a representative strain of the Parabacteroides, also showed Cd- and toxicity-reduction capabilities. P. distasonis significantly restored the gut damage caused by Cd exposure. At the same time, P. distasonis reduced the Cd content in the liver, spleen, lung, kidneys, gut, and blood to varying degrees and significantly increased the Cd content in feces. The succinic acid produced by P. distasonis plays an important role in promoting Cd excretion in Cd-exposed mice. Therefore, these results suggest that P. distasonis may have a potential role in DHA-mediated Cd excretion in Cd-exposed mice.

Automated summary

Cadmium, a common harmful pollutant, poses a significant threat to human health as it can easily enter the human body through the food chain. Gut microbiota play a key role in cadmium absorption. Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) is believed to have a potential role in treating cadmium poisoning. This study investigated the therapeutic effect and mechanism of DHA in cadmium-exposed mice by focusing on the gut microbiota. The results showed that DHA increased cadmium excretion and reduced cadmium accumulation in the organs of mice. Restoration of Parabacteroides abundance in the gut microbiota by DHA was also observed. Parabacteroides distasonis, a representative strain, showed capabilities of reducing cadmium toxicity and restoring gut damage caused by cadmium exposure. Furthermore, it significantly reduced cadmium content in various organs and increased cadmium content in feces. The succinic acid produced by P. distasonis played an important role in promoting cadmium excretion. These findings suggest a potential role of P. distasonis in DHA-mediated cadmium excretion in cadmium-exposed mice.