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肠道基石菌——酪酸梭菌在防治早产儿坏死性小肠结肠炎中的关键作用
丁香园-儿科
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【摘要】坏死性小肠结肠炎(NEC)是早产儿最常见的胃肠道急症,发病率和病死率高。然而,目前现有针对NEC的临床治疗策略效果有限,亟需有效防治NEC的措施。近年来研究发现,以酪酸梭菌为代表的产丁酸菌是维持肠道稳态的“基石菌”,能够通过高效产生丁酸,修复肠黏膜屏障、调节肠道菌群、抑制肠道炎症、增强肠道免疫功能,在NEC的防治中发挥关键作用。本综述系统梳理NEC的流行病学特征,讨论以肠道菌群失调、肠屏障功能障碍为核心的NEC发病机制,并总结基石菌酪酸梭菌防治NEC的临床应用及分子机制,为临床NEC的治疗提供依据。
关键词:酪酸梭菌;丁酸;肠道基石菌;坏死性结肠结肠炎;肠屏障
1、坏死性小肠结肠炎的发病现状
坏死性小肠结肠炎(Necrotizing enterocolitis,NEC)是一种以获得性肠黏膜坏死为特征的炎症性肠道疾病,主要发生于早产儿和低出生体重儿,是导致早产儿死亡的主要原因之一[1]。该病临床表现多样,早期以喂养不耐受、腹胀、胆汁性呕吐为主,病情进展迅速时可出现神经发育不良、肠穿孔、败血症甚至多器官功能衰竭,致死率极高[2-4]。
近年来,随着围产医学和新生儿重症监护技术的进步,超早产儿和极低出生体重儿的存活率显著提高,然而,NEC的总体发病率呈现上升趋势[2]。据统计,全球范围内,NEC仍是新生儿死亡的重要原因之一,约占新生儿重症监护病房中新生儿死亡的6-15%[5-6],高达61%的存活患儿存在显著的神经发育迟缓问题[7]。
2、NEC的发病机制
NEC是由多因素共同作用导致的复杂疾病,其确切发病机制迄今尚未完全阐明。现有研究普遍认为,NEC的发生是在遗传易感性、早产、肠道喂养等背景因素下,肠道屏障功能障碍、菌群失调等多种因素相互作用的结果[2,8]。
2.1 肠道不成熟,肠道屏障功能障碍:早产儿的肠道结构和功能均不成熟、肠屏障受损,这是其易患NEC的根本原因[9-10]。早产儿肠屏障完整性受损,紧密连接蛋白(如Claudin-3等)表达不足,潘氏细胞数量及功能严重不足,导致肠道通透性增加,病原体和细菌产物穿过肠上皮屏障进入固有层,触发炎症反应,最终诱发NEC[10-12]。
2.2 肠道菌群失调:肠道菌群失调与NEC的发生密切相关。正常足月儿通过产道分娩时获得母体阴道和肠道菌群,而早产儿多经剖宫产出生、出生后接受抗生素治疗、配方奶喂养等,这些因素共同导致其肠道菌群定植延迟且多样性低,导致菌群失调[13]。研究表明,在NEC发病前,患儿的肠道菌群构成发生显著改变,致病菌增多,有益菌减少[13-14]。这些条件致病菌的大量增殖及其代谢产物(如LPS、鞭毛蛋白)通过TLR等模式识别受体激活肠上皮细胞的炎症信号通路,驱动NEC的发生发展[9]。
3、现有治疗策略的局限性
NEC的治疗手段在过去数十年中进展有限,目前临床上仍主要依赖支持性治疗,主要依赖于禁食、胃肠减压、肠外营养和广谱抗生素,缺乏特异性的靶向药物和标准化的精准干预方案[15-16]。现有“被动应对”的治疗策略存在明显的局限性:禁食虽能减少肠道负荷,但也延迟了患儿肠功能的建立和营养支持[17];广谱抗生素虽能控制细菌感染,但进一步加剧了肠道菌群的失调[18];对于发生肠坏死或穿孔的患儿,手术切除坏死肠段是挽救生命的最后手段,但手术创伤大、手术时机判断困难,术后患儿需长期依赖肠外营养,继而可能引发肠外营养相关性肝病等并发症,严重影响长期生存质量[19-22]。临床上迫切需要有效防治NEC的治疗措施,提高患儿生存质量。
4、基石菌酪酸梭菌在临床坏死性小肠结肠炎治疗中的研究进展
近年来,多篇研究指出,以酪酸梭菌为代表的产丁酸菌(产酪酸菌)是肠道基石菌,是维持肠屏障完整性、维持肠道健康的核心菌群[23-24]。酪酸梭菌(Clostridium butyricum)是一种严格厌氧、能产生芽孢的革兰氏阳性细菌,能够大量分泌丁酸(酪酸),修复受损的肠道屏障[24]。
目前,临床研究发现,基石菌酪酸梭菌在早产儿NEC的治疗中发挥重要作用:一项针对90例胎龄28-35周早产儿的随机对照研究显示,在早产儿原发病治疗手段的基础上进一步补充酪酸梭菌CGMCC0313-1,能够有效预防早产儿NEC的发病,给予酪酸梭菌散剂干预的预防组发病率(8.9%)显著低于未干预的对照组(22.2%)[25]。此外,该研究发现,酪酸梭菌干预能够显著缩短NEC病程,抑制克雷伯菌、大肠埃希菌等NEC相关致病菌,降低NEC并发肺部感染的发病率,促进早产儿体重的恢复[25]。。
5、酪酸梭菌防治早产儿坏死性小肠结肠炎的分子机制
为什么补充酪酸梭菌能够防治早产儿坏死性小肠结肠炎?多篇研究给出了答案:
5.1 产生丁酸、修复肠道屏障 酪酸梭菌能够高效发酵碳水化合物产生丁酸,从而直接增加肠道内丁酸的浓度,为肠上皮细胞提供能量,促进受损肠黏膜的修复[24];同时,丁酸能够诱导岩藻糖基转移酶2(Fut2)上调,进一步促进肠上皮表面产生α-1,2-连接的岩藻糖基化聚糖、促进Occludin和ZO-1等紧密连接蛋白的表达,维持肠屏障完整性,预防大鼠实验性NEC[26]。
5.2 调节肠道菌群平衡 酪酸梭菌能够通过竞争性抑制等机制,抑制多种致病菌的黏附,同时促进其他有益菌生长,改善肠道菌群结构,恢复肠道微生态平衡[27-28]。体外研究发现,酪酸梭菌能够抑制产肠毒素脆弱拟杆菌(ETBF)生物膜形成能力,发挥抑菌作用[29]。
5.3 抑制肠道炎症 丁酸能够通过抑制Toll样受体4(TLR4)活化,进一步抑制TLR4/MyD88/NF-κB/NLRP3/cleaved caspase-1/GSDMD炎症小体信号通路,抑制细胞焦亡,降低炎症细胞因子释放,发挥抗炎作用[30];此外,酪酸梭菌能够通过 TLR2/MyD88 通路直接促进肠道巨噬细胞分泌抗炎因子IL-10,抑制肠道炎症[31]。
5.4 增强肠道免疫功能 酪酸梭菌及丁酸能够增强肠道免疫功能,促进肠道病原体的清除。研究表明,酪酸梭菌可增强B细胞功能,促进黏膜抗体sIgA的分泌,提高机体黏膜免疫功能[32];此外,酪酸梭菌及丁酸能够通过调节巨噬细胞巴豆酰化、乙酰化水平,促进巨噬细胞抗菌肽表达,增强巨噬细胞功能,增强肠道免疫力[33,34]。
6、总结:
综上所述,肠道基石菌酪酸梭菌,能够通过产生丁酸修复肠黏膜屏障,从源头上阻断“肠漏”,进一步调节肠道菌群平衡、抑制肠道炎症、增强肠道免疫功能,在NEC防治中发挥关键作用。在863项目支持下,医用微生态制品开发国家地方联合工程研究中心研发团队已自主创研出酪酸梭菌CGMCC0313-1活菌制剂,获得中国、美国双专利授权(如ZL 200610086642.3、US 7785581B2等),并因其良好的疗效和安全性而被国家药品监督管理局批准为绿标OTC国药准字药品[35]。目前,酪酸梭菌CGMCC0313-1对早产儿坏死性小肠结肠炎的治疗效果已经得到临床研究验证[25],值得在临床大力推广。
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