Sex-dependent impact of Roundup on the rat gut microbiome: What consequences on probiotics treatments?

LOZANO, VERÓNICA LAURA; AMIEL, CAROLINE

Budapest

Conferencia; Conferencia Internacional de Probióticos IPC 2019; 2018

A growing body of research suggests that dysbiosis of the gut microbiota induced by environmental pollutants,such as pesticides, could have a role in the development of metabolic disorders. We have examined the long-termeffects of 3 doses of the Roundup(R) herbicide (made of glyphosate and formulants) on the gut microbiota inmale and female Sprague-Dawley rats. A total of 141 bacteria families were identified by a 16S sequencinganalysis approach. An OPLS-DA analysis revealed an increased Bacteroidetes family S24-7 and a decreasedLactobacillaceae in 8 out of the 9 females treated with 3 different doses of R (n=3, for each dose). These effectswere confirmed by repetitive sequence-based PCR fingerprinting showing a clustering of treated females. Aculture-based method showed that R had a direct effect on rat gut microbiota. Cultivable species showed differentsensitivities to R, including the presence of a high tolerant or resistant strain identified as Escherichia coliby 16S rRNA sequencing. The high tolerance of this E. Coli strain was explained by the absence of the EPSPS gene(coding glyphosate target enzyme) as shown by DNA amplification. Overall, these gut microbiome disturbancesshowed a substantial overlap with those associated with liver dysfunction in other studies. In conclusion, werevealed that an environmental concentration of R (0.1 ppb) and other two concentrations (400 ppm and5,000 ppm) have a sex-dependent impact on rat gut microbiome composition and thus warrants further investigation.