Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41697021›Full record

ArticleThe ISME journal2025

Gut microbial production of lithocholic acid reprograms pro-resolutive macrophages to enhance vedolizumab responsiveness via the TGR5/FXR-NF-κB axis.

Bing Han, Hongtao Wen, Ya Li, Yucai Wang, Xiaoping Lv, Mei Kang, Wei Huang, Yining Lan, Shilin Tong, Mengying Zhang and 4 more

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in The ISME journal, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

2 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

14 authors.

Bing HanDepartment of Gastroenterology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450052, China.
Hongtao WenDepartment of Gastroenterology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450052, China.
Ya LiDepartment of Gastroenterology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450052, China.
Yucai WangNational Key Laboratory of Immune Response and Immunotherapy, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, 230026, China.
Xiaoping LvDepartment of Gastroenterology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi Medical University, Nanning, 530021, China.
Mei KangDepartment of Gastroenterology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450052, China.
Wei HuangDepartment of Gastroenterology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi Medical University, Nanning, 530021, China.
Yining LanDepartment of Neurology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi Medical University, Nanning, 530021, China.
Shilin TongDepartment of Clinical Immunology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, 450052, China.
Mengying ZhangDepartment of Clinical Immunology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, 450052, China.
Deyi ChenDepartment of Gastroenterology, The First People's Hospital of Qinzhou, Qinzhou, 535009, China.
Chen ZhuCentre for Leading Medicine and Advanced Technologies of IHM, The First Affiliated Hospital of University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, 230036, China.
Yong JiangDepartment of Clinical Immunology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, 450052, China.
Daiyuan TangDepartment of Gastroenterology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450052, China.

Funding

China Postdoctoral Science Foundation 2025M772035Guangxi Natural Science Foundation 2023GXNSFAA026135Henan Provincial Medical Science and Technology Research Joint Venture Project LHGJ20250299Key Project of Guangxi Natural Science Foundation 2025GXNSFDA069030National Natural Science Foundation of China 82460108
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Crohn's disease (CD) is a complex chronic transmural inflammatory bowel disease. Although vedolizumab (VDZ) markedly improves clinical outcomes in CD, treatment non-response remains a significant limitation, constraining its broader utility. Elucidating the mechanisms underlying VDZ responsiveness is thus critically needed. In this research, we employed a humanized mouse model of 2,4,6-trinitrobenzene sulfonic acid-induced colitis to investigate VDZ treatment response in CD. Our findings indicate that VDZ significantly alleviated disease phenotypes in a portion of CD mice. Integrated metagenomic and metabolomic profiling identified baseline gut microbiota-derived secondary bile acids as potential predictors of VDZ efficacy. Subsequent fecal microbiota transplantation from clinical donors into pseudo-germ-free mice confirmed that gut microbial composition critically influences VDZ responsiveness. Targeted metabolomics further pinpointed lithocholic acid (LCA) as a key microbially derived metabolite correlated with therapeutic remission. Single-cell RNA sequencing also revealed that intestinal macrophages serve as pivotal mediators of LCA-driven modulation of treatment outcomes. Furthermore, transcriptomic analyses demonstrated that LCA polarizes macrophages toward an M2-resolutive phenotype via concurrent engagement of the TGR5/FXR and their downstream nuclear factor kappa-B (NF-κB) pathways. Ultimately, using a conditioned medium co-culture system, we established that the regulatory effects of pro-resolutive macrophage niche on treatment response in a manner dependent on the TGR5/FXR-NF-κB axis. Taken together, our study elucidates a microbiota-immune circuit in which gut microbial metabolite LCA augments VDZ responsiveness in CD by reprogramming macrophages toward a pro-resolutive phenotype via the TGR5/FXR-NF-κB signaling network. These insights provide a mechanistic foundation for biomarker development and personalized therapeutic strategies in inflammatory bowel disease.

Indexed as

bile acid metabolitesbiomarkerCrohn’s diseasegut microbiotaimmune responselithocholic acid

Identifiers

PMID41697021
PMCPMC12998432

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.