Changes in Type 1 Diabetes-Associated Gut Microbiota Aggravate Brain Ischemia Injury by Affecting Microglial...

People with type 1 diabetes (T1D) have a significantly elevated risk of stroke, but the mechanism through which T1D worsens ischemic stroke remains unclear. This study was aimed at investigating the roles of T1D-associated changes in the gut microbiota in aggravating ischemic stroke and the underlying mechanism. Fecal 16SrRNA sequencing indicated that T1D mice and mice with transplantation of T1D mouse gut microbiota had lower relative abundance of butyric acid producers, f_Erysipelotrichaceae and g_Allobaculum, and lower content of butyric acid in feces. After middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO), these mice had poorer neurological outcomes and more severe inflammation, but higher expression of myeloid differentiation factor 88 (MyD88) in the ischemic penumbra; moreover, the microglia were inclined to polarize toward the pro-inflammatory type. Administration of butyrate to T1D mice in the drinking water alleviated the neurological damage after MCAO. Butyrate influenced the response and polarization of BV2 and decreased the production of inflammatory cytokines via MyD88 after oxygen-glucose deprivation/reoxygenation. Knocking down MyD88 in the brain alleviated neurological outcomes and decreased the concentrations of inflammatory cytokines in the brain after stroke in mice with transplantation of T1D mouse gut microbiota. Poor neurological outcomes and aggravated inflammatory responses of T1D mice after ischemic stroke may be partly due to differences in microglial polarization mediated by the gut microbiota-butyrate-MyD88 pathway. These findings provide new ideas and potential intervention targets for alleviating neurological damage after ischemic stroke in T1D.