Human Colitis-on-Chip Model Reveals Dual Roles of Butyrate in Epithelial and Macrophage Defense Against Candida albicans Tissue Invasion - PubMed
3 hours ago
- #butyrate
- #colitis-on-chip
- #Candida albicans
- The study introduces a human colitis-on-chip model (CooC) that simulates inflamed gut mucosa, including epithelial damage from DSS and tissue invasion by Candida albicans.
- Butyrate, a microbiota-derived short-chain fatty acid, plays dual protective roles: stabilizing epithelial adherens junctions and promoting renewal to restrict fungal invasion, and modulating macrophages to enhance antifungal activity while reducing inflammasome-mediated inflammation.
- Butyrate pretreatment helps preserve epithelial barrier function, limit fungal translocation, and support macrophage viability by inhibiting histone deacetylase (HDAC) and suppressing NLRP3 inflammasome activation.
- The findings highlight butyrate's potential as a therapeutic agent in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) to restore mucosal resilience and defend against fungal exacerbations.
- The model and results underscore the importance of microbial dysbiosis in IBD, where reduced butyrate levels compromise barrier integrity and enable opportunistic pathogens like C. albicans to overgrow.