Berberine improved the microbiota in lung tissue of colon cancer and reversed the bronchial epithelial cell changes caused by cancer cells

Q: What was the main objective of the experiment?

To investigate berberine’s protective effect on lung tissue or alveolar/bronchial epithelial cells induced by colon cancer.

Q: How were the lung microbiota changes measured?

By detecting changes in microbiota using 16S rDNA sequencing and evaluating inflammatory cytokine expression.

Q: What effects did berberine have on cytokines and bronchial epithelial cell markers?

Berberine increased IL-6 and IL-10 while decreasing IL-17 and IFN-γ, and reversed cancer-related changes in epithelial marker and extracellular matrix-related protein expression including E-cadherin and RAD51.

Sep 21, 2026

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Objective: This experiment explored berberine’s protective effect on lung tissue or alveolar/bronchial epithelial cells induced by colon cancer. Methods: Xenograft BALB/c nude mice were established using HT29 cells and treated with berberine and probiotics; lung microbiota and inflammatory cytokine changes were assessed by 16S rDNA sequencing, immunofluorescence, CCK-8, and western blotting. Results: Colon cancer reduced lung microbiota richness/evenness; berberine increased multiple bacterial taxa and α-diversity, modulated metabolic pathways, and shifted cytokines (IL-6/IL-10 up; IL-17/IFN-γ down). Conclusion: Berberine selectively regulates lung microbiota, improves inflammatory responses, and reverses cancer-induced epithelial phenotype and extracellular matrix remodeling, including RAD51 expression.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages12

Reading Time30 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Lung metastasis and colorectal cancer risk

Gut microbiota and mechanisms in metastasis

Heliyon 10 (2024) e24405 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Heliyon journal [homepage:](homepage: www.cell.com/heliyon)[ www.cell.com/heliyon](homepage: www.cell.com/heliyon) Research article Berberine improved the microbiota in lung tissue of colon cancer and reversed the bronchial epithelial cell changes caused by cancer cells Wei Yanga, Ting Yang b, Bo Huang c, Zhanjun Chend, Haosheng Liu e, Chao Huang e, * a Pediatric Department, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Shenzhen University (People’s Hospital of Shenzhen Baoan District), Shenzhen, 518100, China b Gastroenterology Department, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Shenzhen University (People’s Hospital of Shenzhen Baoan District), Shenzhen, 518100, China c General Surgery Department, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Shenzhen University (People’s Hospital of Shenzhen Baoan District), Shenzhen, 518100, China d Department of Cardiology, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Shenzhen University (People’s Hospital of Shenzhen Baoan District), Shenzhen, 518100, China e Department of Traditional Chinese Medicine, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Shenzhen University (People’s Hospital of Shenzhen Baoan District), Shenzhen, 518100, China A R T I C L E I N F O Keywords: Colorectal cancer Gut microbiota Lung Berberine Microenvironment A B S T R A C T Objective: The lung is a common organ for colon cancer metastasis, and the objective of this experiment was to explore the protective effect of berberine on lung tissue or alveolar epithelial cells induced by colon cancer. Methods: Thirty-six BALB/c nude mice were used to establish a xenograft model of colon cancer with the HT29 cell line and were treated with berberine and probiotics. Human bronchial epithelial BEAS-2B cells were induced by conditioned medium (CM) from the colon cancer cell lines HT29 and RKO and were treated with berberine. Lung tissues were collected to detect the changes in the microbiota using 16S rDNA sequencing and the expression of inflammatory cytokines. The expression of E-cadherin and N-cadherin in BEAS-2B cells was detected by cellular immunofluorescence. The changes in cell proliferation were detected by the CCK-8 assay. Western blotting was used to detect E-cadherin, N-cadherin, collagen I, fibronectin, PDGF-β, and RAD51 expression in BEAS-2B cells. Results: The richness and evenness of the microbiota in the lung tissues of mice with colon cancer were significantly lower than those of the control group. Berberine significantly increased the abundances of Bacteroidetes, Bacteroidia, Bacteroidales, Lactobacillaceae, Lactobacillus and Acinetobacter in the lung tissue of mice with colon cancer, with reduced abundances ofActinobacteria, Bacillales, Staphylococcaceae and Staphylococcus. Berberine or probiotics significantly increased the alpha diversity of the lung microbiota. Compared with probiotics, berberine significantly enhanced the abundance of microbiota involved in the metabolism of lysosomes, flavone and flavonol biosynthesis, glycosaminoglycan degradation, and glycosphingolipid biosynthesisganglio. Berberine increased IL-6 and IL-10 and decreased IL-17 and IFN-γ expression in lung tissue (P > 0.05), but berberine-probiotics significantly decreased IL-17 and IFN-γ and increased IL-10 expression (P < 0.05). Colon cancer cells could not induce BEAS-2B proliferation but * Corresponding author. E-mail address: [huangchao06@163.com](huangchao06@163.com) (C. Huang). [https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e24405](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e24405) Received 27 July 2023; Received in revised form 21 December 2023; Accepted 8 January 2024 Available online 15 January 2024 2405-8440/© 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license ([http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)). W. Yang et al. Heliyon 10 (2024) e24405 decreased the

FAQs

What was the main objective of the experiment?

To investigate berberine’s protective effect on lung tissue or alveolar/bronchial epithelial cells induced by colon cancer.

How were the lung microbiota changes measured?

By detecting changes in microbiota using 16S rDNA sequencing and evaluating inflammatory cytokine expression.

What effects did berberine have on cytokines and bronchial epithelial cell markers?

Berberine increased IL-6 and IL-10 while decreasing IL-17 and IFN-γ, and reversed cancer-related changes in epithelial marker and extracellular matrix-related protein expression including E-cadherin and RAD51.

Sep 21, 2026

Uploaded by Himbo