title: Faecal microbiota transplantation protects against radiation-induced toxicity.
abstract: Severe radiation exposure may cause acute radiation syndrome, a possibly fatal condition requiring effective therapy. Gut microbiota can be manipulated to fight against many diseases. We explored whether intestinal microbe transplantation could alleviate radiation-induced toxicity. High-throughput sequencing showed that gastrointestinal bacterial community composition differed between male and female mice and was associated with susceptibility to radiation toxicity. Faecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) increased the survival rate of irradiated animals, elevated peripheral white blood cell counts and improved gastrointestinal tract function and intestinal epithelial integrity in irradiated male and female mice. FMT preserved the intestinal bacterial composition and retained mRNA and long non-coding RNA expression profiles of host small intestines in a sex-specific fashion. Despite promoting angiogenesis, sex-matched FMT did not accelerate the proliferation of cancer cellsin vivoFMT might serve as a therapeutic to mitigate radiation-induced toxicity and improve the prognosis of tumour patients after radiotherapy.
authors.affiliation: Tianjin Key Laboratory of Radiation Medicine and Molecular Nuclear Medicine, Institute of Radiation Medicine, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Tianjin, China cuiming0403@bjmu.edu.cn fansaijun@irm-cams.ac.cn.
authors.forename: Ming
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-3016-8392
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cui
authors.affiliation: Tianjin Key Laboratory of Radiation Medicine and Molecular Nuclear Medicine, Institute of Radiation Medicine, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Tianjin, China.
authors.forename: Huiwen
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Xiao
authors.affiliation: Tianjin Key Laboratory of Radiation Medicine and Molecular Nuclear Medicine, Institute of Radiation Medicine, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Tianjin, China.
authors.forename: Yuan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Carcinogenesis and Translational Research (Ministry of Education/Beijing), Department of Pathology, Peking University Cancer Hospital & Institute, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Lixin
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: Tianjin Key Laboratory of Radiation Medicine and Molecular Nuclear Medicine, Institute of Radiation Medicine, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Tianjin, China.
authors.forename: Shuyi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: Tianjin Key Laboratory of Radiation Medicine and Molecular Nuclear Medicine, Institute of Radiation Medicine, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Tianjin, China.
authors.forename: Dan
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Luo
authors.affiliation: Tianjin Key Laboratory of Radiation Medicine and Molecular Nuclear Medicine, Institute of Radiation Medicine, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Tianjin, China.
authors.forename: Qisheng
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Zheng
authors.affiliation: Tianjin Key Laboratory of Radiation Medicine and Molecular Nuclear Medicine, Institute of Radiation Medicine, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Tianjin, China.
authors.forename: Jiali
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Dong
authors.affiliation: Tianjin Key Laboratory of Radiation Medicine and Molecular Nuclear Medicine, Institute of Radiation Medicine, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Tianjin, China.
authors.forename: Yu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: Tianjin Key Laboratory of Radiation Medicine and Molecular Nuclear Medicine, Institute of Radiation Medicine, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Tianjin, China.
authors.forename: Xin
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Tianjin Key Laboratory of Radiation Medicine and Molecular Nuclear Medicine, Institute of Radiation Medicine, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Tianjin, China.
authors.forename: Junling
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Tianjin Key Laboratory of Radiation Medicine and Molecular Nuclear Medicine, Institute of Radiation Medicine, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Tianjin, China.
authors.forename: Lu
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.affiliation: Tianjin Key Laboratory of Radiation Medicine and Molecular Nuclear Medicine, Institute of Radiation Medicine, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Tianjin, China.|Department of Emergency Medicine, North Shore University Hospital, Laboratory of Emergency Medicine, the Feinstein Institute for Medical Research, Manhasset, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Haichao
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Tianjin Key Laboratory of Radiation Medicine and Molecular Nuclear Medicine, Institute of Radiation Medicine, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Tianjin, China cuiming0403@bjmu.edu.cn fansaijun@irm-cams.ac.cn.
authors.forename: Saijun
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-0691-6864
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Fan
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000069467:Fecal Microbiota Transplantation; D005260:Female; D007413:Intestinal Mucosa / Q000473:pathology; D007421:Intestine, Small / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D011833:Radiation Injuries, Experimental / Q000473:pathology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D011835:Radiation Protection / Q000379:methods*; D016019:Survival Analysis
keywords: faecal microbiota transplantation; gastrointestinal toxicity; gut microbiota; radiation syndrome; radiotherapy