Impact of Ayurvedic drug Tinospora cordifolia in hyperlipidemia induced dysbiosis

Abstract

Gut microbiota broadly impacts human health, but urinary microbial metabolites remain largely undefined. The concentration of microbial metabolites can be directly correlated with microbial populations in the human gut to define disease states. Tinospora cordifolia (Willd.) Miers ex Hook. F. & Thoms is being used for ages in the Indian ayurvedic system of medicine and it has hypolipidemic and hypoglycaemic activity. Present study investigate the MS-based metabolomics variations of possible gut microbiota associated metabolites in hyperlipidemia (HPL) and HPL treated with Tinospora cordifolia extract (TCE) (TRT). Twenty-four HPL male patients and 10 age-matched controls (HLT) were enrolled. Early morning fasting blood and urine samples were collected on days 0 and 14^th of TCE treatment and subjected to lipid profiling and Q-TOF-MS analysis. Multivariate analysis showed urinary levels of urocanic acid, hydroxyphenylacetate, linolenic acid, phenylpropionate, hypoxanthine, and indole acetate produced by Peptostreptococcs asaccharolyticus, Clostridium difficile, Faecalibacterium prausnitzii, Bifidobacterium, Subdoligranulum, Lactobacillus, Clostridium sporogenes, E. coli were depleted in HPL patients as compared to healthy controls. In contrast, levels of serotonin, acetylleucine, hippuric acid, and arabinitol were found to be increased (>2.0 fold, p<0.005). However, TCE treatment reverted the levels of these metabolites and therefore, gut microflora. Also, Cloacibacterium haliotis, Lactobacillus, Clostridium, and Bifidobacterium population decreased in HPL patients. Increased secretion of yeast or Candida albicans associated metabolites was because of their increased population. Hence, TCE treatment enhanced the growth of useful gut microbiota in hyperlipidemia patients.