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Updated: Aug 12, 2026
Perturbations of Circulating miRNAs in Irritable Bowel Syndrome Detected Using a Multiplexed High-throughput Gene Expression Platform
Published on: November 30, 2016
Marasmius androsaceus mitigates depression-exacerbated intestinal radiation injuries through reprogramming
Jiamin Zhao1, Xiaozhou Zeng2, Jia Liu1
1State Key Laboratory of Medicinal Chemical Biology, Key Laboratory of MolecularMicrobiology and Technology of the Ministry of Education, Department of Microbiology, College of Life Sciences, Nankai University, 94 Weijin Road, Tianjin 300071, China.
Introduction:
Cancer patients commonly experience high levels of psychological stress, which poses significant risks to their well-being. Radiotherapy is a primary treatment modality for cancer; however, it often leads to intestinal injuries in these patients. Nevertheless, the impact of mental stress on radiotherapy-intertwined complications remains unclear.
Methods:
To induce intestinal injury, we employed total abdominal irradiation in our experimental model. We conducted high-throughput sequencing to analyze the expression profile of miRNAs in the hippocampus.
Results:
We observed that mice with depression exhibited more severe intestinal injuries following total abdominal irradiation. Remarkably, oral administration of Marasmius androsaceus not only alleviated the depressive phenotype but also mitigated radiation-induced intestinal toxicity. Notably, this radioprotective effect was not observed in mice without depression. Depression disrupted the hippocampal miRNA expression profile in mice subjected to local irradiation of the abdomen, leading to the accumulation of miR-139-5p and miR-184-3p in the hippocampus, serum, and small intestine tissues. However, treatment with Marasmius androsaceus reprogrammed the miRNA expression signature in mice with depression. Furthermore, intravenous injection of antagomirs targeting miR-139-5p and miR-184-3p ameliorated depression, up-regulated Spn expression, reduced radiation enteritis, and improved the integrity of the small intestine in irradiated mice.
Conclusion:
Our findings demonstrate the efficacy of Marasmius androsaceus, a small mushroom, in alleviating depression-aggravated intestinal toxicity following radiotherapy by reprogramming hippocampal miRNA expression.
