The Postbiotic Butyrate Mitigates Gut Mucosal Disruption Caused by Acute Ethanol Exposure

We aimed to test how the postbiotic butyrate impacts select gut bacteria, small intestinal epithelial integrity, and microvascular endothelial activation during acute ethanol exposure in mice and primary human intestinal microvascular endothelial cells (HIMECs). Supplementation during an acute ethanol challenge with or without tributyrin, a butyrate prodrug, was delivered to C57BL/6 mice. A separate group of mice received 3 days of clindamycin prior to the acute ethanol challenge. Upon euthanasia, blood endotoxin, cecal bacteria, jejunal barrier integrity, and small intestinal lamina propria dendritic cells were assessed. HIMECs were tested for activation following exposure to ethanol ± lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and sodium butyrate. Tributyrin supplementation protected a butyrate-generating microbe during ethanol and antibiotic exposure. Tributyrin rescued ethanol-induced disruption in jejunal epithelial barrier, elevated plasma endotoxin, and increased mucosal vascular addressin cell-adhesion molecule-1 (MAdCAM-1) expression in intestinal microvascular endothelium. These protective effects of tributyrin coincided with a tolerogenic dendritic response in the intestinal lamina propria. Lastly, sodium butyrate pre- and co-treatment attenuated the direct effects of ethanol and LPS on MAdCAM-1 induction in the HIMECs from a patient with ulcerative colitis. Tributyrin supplementation protects small intestinal epithelial and microvascular barrier integrity and modulates microvascular endothelial activation and dendritic tolerizing function during a state of gut dysbiosis and acute ethanol challenge.