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Updated: Jul 14, 2026
Applying Advanced In Vitro Culturing Technology to Study the Human Gut Microbiota
Published on: February 15, 2019
Multi-omics reveals EGCG's anti-calcification effects associated with gut microbiota and metabolite remodeling
Yating Zhang1,2, Zihan Tang1,2, Junwen Zhu2
1Department of Cardiology, The First People's Hospital of Wenling, Wenling Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Wenling, Zhejiang, China.
Introduction:
Vascular calcification, a pathological process driven by heterotopic calcium-phosphate deposition, arises from vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) osteochondrogenic transformation, epigenetic dysregulation, and metabolic reprogramming. Epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG), a natural polyphenol, is associated with attenuated vascular calcification and remodeling of the gut microbiota-metabolite axis.
Methods:
Twenty-four 8-week-old Sprague-Dawley rats were randomized into four groups: control (CON), vitamin D3-induced calcification (VD), VD plus EGCG (VD+EGCG), and EGCG-only (EGCG). Vascular calcification was induced via vitamin D3 injection, followed by 11-week EGCG treatment. Calcification severity was quantified using alizarin red S staining, alkaline phosphatase (ALP) immunohistochemistry/immunofluorescence, and serum metabolomics, while colon microbiota and metabolites were profiled via 16S rRNA sequencing and LC-MS/MS.
Results:
EGCG significantly reduced calcification (*P<0.05 vs. VD), as evidenced by diminished alizarin red S staining and suppressed ALP activity. Gut microbiota analysis revealed EGCG-mediated restoration of alpha diversity and taxonomic shifts, including reversal of Spirochaetota, Desulfobacterota, and Actinobacteriota abundances at the phylum level (*P<0.05); marked changes in Clostridia_UCG_014, Desulfovibrionales, Christensenellales, Erysipelotrichales, Oscillospirales, and Spirochaetales at the order level (*P<0.05); and normalization of Treponema, unclassified Treponema, and Lactobacillus johnsonii at the genus/species level (*P<0.05). Serum metabolomics identified VD3-induced upregulation of phospholipid metabolites (phosphatidylserine [PS], phosphatidylcholine [PC], lysophosphatidylcholine [LysoPC]), which were counteracted by EGCG (*P<0.05). Concurrently, EGCG enhanced ubiquinone biosynthesis and terpenoid-quinone pathways.
Discussion:
These changes are mechanistically linked to suppressed VSMCs osteogenic differentiation and aortic degeneration. The findings establish EGCG as a dual microbiota-metabolite modulator with therapeutic potential for vascular calcification, offering a novel strategy to target gut-vascular crosstalk in cardiovascular disease.
