Gut microbiota-derived indole-3-lactic acid alleviates radiation-induced lung injury through CYP1B1-associated epigenetic regulation.
Radiation-induced lung injury (RILI) is a major complication of thoracic radiotherapy. This study investigated the role of the gut microbiota and its metabolite indole-3-lactic acid (ILA) in RILI. Gut microbial composition was characterized by 16S rRNA gene sequencing, with three biological replicates included in each experimental group. Integration of microbiome, metabolomic, transcriptomic, ATAC-seq, and CUT Tag analyses identified ILA as a potentially protective microbial metabolite. ILA treatment alleviated radiation-induced lung injury and was associated with increased CYP1B1 expression and altered histone acetylation. These findings suggest that microbiota-derived ILA may protect normal lung tissue against radiation-induced damage through CYP1B1-associated epigenetic regulation