Exacerbation of Colitis by Enterobacteriaceae

ABSTRACT Ulcerative colitis is a complex disease caused by a combination of genetic risk factors, childhood exposure to environmental risk factors and a poorly defined microbiota component. Ulcerative colitis is associated with imbalance in the microbiota (dysbiosis) characterized by increased Enterobacteriaceae and reduced Clostridia abundance. Ulcerative colitis can respond to antibiotic treatment, which suggests that dysbiosis exacerbates intestinal inflammation, thus raising the question as to how microbiota homeostasis can be restored. Our preliminary data suggest that epithelial hypoxia and epithelial release of hydrogen peroxide represent host control mechanisms that maintain homeostasis in the colon and that facultative anaerobic Enterobacteriaceae exacerbates colitis when these host control mechanisms become weakened by a combination of genetic and environmental risk factors. Our central hypothesis is that increased epithelial oxygenation drives an expansion of facultative anaerobic Enterobacteriaceae that exacerbate colitis because members of this family are not excluded by growth conditions encountered in close proximity to the epithelial surface. In specific aim 1 we will test the working hypothesis that rebalancing the gut microbiota by reinstating epithelial hypoxia represents a feasible approach for restoring gut homeostasis. In specific aim 2 we will determine how Enterobacteriaceae exacerbate colitis in mice carrying a genetic risk factor while being exposed to a combination of environmental risk factors. Successful completion of the proposed work will be of broad significance for research on microbial ecology in the gut, the dynamics of gut- associated microbial communities during inflammation and the pathogenesis of ulcerative colitis.