Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jan 6, 2026
Murine Fecal Isolation and Microbiota Transplantation
Published on: May 26, 2023
Dystrophic Skeletal Muscle Phenotypes Can Be Horizontally Transferred via Fecal Microbiome Transplantations
James Butcher1,2,3, Jessica T Gosse4, Jonathan Gobin4
1School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
Abstract:
Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) has no cure and accounts for > 80% of muscular dystrophy cases around the world. DMD patients experience severe muscle degeneration that continues until death and also suffer from gastrointestinal complications that undoubtedly impact their microbiotas. It is unclear whether dystrophic microbiotas simply reflect the disease or whether microbes are directly involved in muscle phenotypes. Here, we sought to determine the microbiota's causal role in promoting dystrophic muscles by performing intra/inter-genotype fecal microbiota transplantations (FMT) between wildtype and mdx mice; assessing FMT's impact on muscles and microbiotas over 9 weeks. Transplanting mdx microbiotas into wildtype mice induced an mdx-like muscle phenotype while the inverse improved muscle features. We identified several taxa differentially abundant between wildtype mice receiving either wildtype or mdx FMT, highlighting their potential role in muscle health. Our results highlight the active role microbes have in impacting muscle health through both beneficial and detrimental mechanisms. Accordingly, microbes represent unexploited therapeutic targets for improving health outcomes in muscular dystrophies.
Insights
The gut microbiome influences Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) progression. Transplanting diseased microbiota worsened muscle health in healthy mice, while healthy microbiota improved it, revealing microbes as therapeutic targets.
Area of Science:
- Microbiology
- Genetics
- Immunology
Background:
- Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is a severe genetic disorder with no cure, characterized by progressive muscle degeneration.
- Gastrointestinal complications are common in DMD patients, potentially affecting their gut microbiota.
- The direct role of the gut microbiota in DMD pathogenesis remains unclear.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the causal role of the gut microbiota in the development of muscle pathology in DMD.
- To determine if microbial alterations contribute to or protect against DMD phenotypes.
Main Methods:
- Fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) was performed between wildtype and mdx (DMD model) mice.
- The impact of FMT on muscle and microbiota was assessed over nine weeks.
- Differential abundance analysis of microbial taxa was conducted.
Main Results:
- Transferring mdx microbiota to wildtype mice induced an mdx-like muscle phenotype.
- Conversely, transplanting wildtype microbiota into mdx mice improved muscle features.
- Specific microbial taxa were identified as differentially abundant, correlating with muscle health outcomes.
Conclusions:
- The gut microbiota plays an active, causal role in modulating muscle health in DMD.
- Microbes can exert both beneficial and detrimental effects on muscle phenotypes.
- Targeting the gut microbiota represents a potential therapeutic strategy for DMD.
