The role of selenium intervention in gut microbiota homeostasis and gene function in mice with breast cancer on a high-fat diet

Yinan Li; Min Liu; Bingtan Kong; Ganlin Zhang; Qing Zhang

doi:10.3389/fmicb.2024.1439652

The role of selenium intervention in gut microbiota homeostasis and gene function in mice with breast cancer on a high-fat diet

Front Microbiol. 2024 Jul 31:15:1439652. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2024.1439652. eCollection 2024.

Authors

Yinan Li^{1

2}, Min Liu³, Bingtan Kong^{1

2}, Ganlin Zhang², Qing Zhang²

Affiliations

¹ Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Beijing, China.
² Department of Oncology, Beijing Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China.
³ School of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China.

Abstract

Objective: This study aimed to investigate the effect of selenium on gut microbiota in mice with breast cancer under a high-fat diet.

Methods: A total of 12 female BALB/c mice were randomly divided into two groups: 4 T1 + selenium+ high-fat diet group and 4 T1 + high-fat diet group. Mice were injected with 4 T1 cells on the right 4th mammary fat pad and kept on a high-fat diet. Fecal samples were collected, and DNA was extracted for metagenomic sequencing and bioinformatics analysis. Relevant target genes and pathways were annotated and metabolically analyzed to explore the intervention effect of selenium on breast cancer in the high-fat diet state.

Results: Selenium supplementation in the high-fat diet altered the composition and diversity of gut microbiota in mice with breast cancer. The gut microbial composition was significantly different in the selenium intervention group, with an increased abundance of Proteobacteria, Actinobacteria, and Verrucomicrobia phyla and species such as Helicobacter ganmani, Helicobacter japonicus, and Akkermansia muciniphila, while phyla, such as Bacteroidetes, Firmicutes, Deferribacteres, and Spirochaetes, and species, such as Prevotella sp. MGM2, Muribaculum intestinale, Lactobacillus murinus, and Prevotella sp. MGM1, were decreased. Functional analysis revealed differential expression of genes related to carbohydrate-active enzymes, pathogen-host interactions, cell communication, cell auto-induction, membrane transporters, and virulence factors. Furthermore, 37 COGs and 48 metabolites with rising metabolic potential in the selenium intervention group were predicted.

Conclusion: Selenium alters the homeostasis of gut microbiota in mice with breast cancer on a high-fat diet, affecting their composition, abundance, and associated metabolism. These findings suggest that the mechanism involves interfering with gut microbiota homeostasis, leading to altered synthesis of tumor-associated proteins and fatty acids and inducing tumor cell apoptosis and pyroptosis.

Keywords: breast cancer; genetic functions; gut microbiota; high-fat status; metagenomic sequencing; selenium.

Grants and funding

The author(s) declare that financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. This study was funded by Enshi Prefecture Science and Technology Program Research and Development Project (No. JCY2019000040). The funders had no stakes in the design, collection of data and analysis, decision-making of publishing, or the writing of the manuscript.