Microbiota humanization drives human‐like metabolic and immune transcriptomic shifts in pigs

Pigs are increasingly recognized as promising candidates for clinical xenotransplantation and as large-animal models for biomedical research; however, interspecies differences in gut microbiota, immune function, and metabolism remain major barriers. To address this, we established gut microbiota-humanized (GMH) pigs by transplanting human fecal microbiota into antibiotic-treated pigs. We systemically evaluated alterations in microbiota composition, serum metabolites, and immune cell profiles using integrated metagenomic, quasi-targeted metabolomic and single-cell transcriptomic (scRNA-seq) analyses. Metagenomic profiling revealed a shift in the intestinal microbiota of GMH pigs toward a human-like composition, characterized by enrichment of <i>Bacteroidia</i> and depletion of <i>Bacilli</i>. Metabolomic analysis showed that GMH pigs exhibited serum metabolite profiles more closely resembling those of humans. Among 423 detected serum metabolites, 136 that were lower in control pigs than in humans were upregulated in GMH pigs, whereas 79 that were elevated in control pigs decreased post-transplantation. Notably, pathways related to tryptophan metabolism, bile acid biosynthesis, and fatty acid metabolism were enhanced in GMT pigs, while carbon-related and glycolytic pathways were attenuated, indicating partial convergence toward human metabolic phenotype. Integration of microbial and metabolite data identified 20 and 33 metabolites associated with <i>Bacteroidia</i> and <i>Bacilli</i>, respectively. scRNA-seq profiling of peripheral blood mononuclear cells demonstrated transcriptional and compositional remodeling of T cells, monocytes, and B cell subsets in GMH pigs. These findings demonstrated that human fecal microbiota can reshape both systemic metabolic and immune artitecture in pigs, offering a robust large-animal platform for studying host-microbiota interactions and advancing translational application in xenotransplantation and microbiome-based therapeutics.

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Publication Details

Journal
iMetaOmics.
Published
2025-06-24
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1002/imo2.70034
Citations
1
Primary Topic
Gut microbiota and health
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.81

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article

Microbiota humanization drives human‐like metabolic and immune transcriptomic shifts in pigs

Yanan Xu, Chenxu Zhao, Changhong Wu, Kun Pang et al.
1 citations
iMetaOmics.
Gut microbiota and health
0.81
article

Microbiota humanization drives human‐like metabolic and immune transcriptomic shifts in pigs

Yanan Xu, Chenxu Zhao, Changhong Wu, Kun Pang, Yong Zhao, Fangqing Zhao, Jiayu Zhang, Zhaoqi Zhang, Tong Lei, Tang Hai
article en
1 citations

Abstract

Pigs are increasingly recognized as promising candidates for clinical xenotransplantation and as large-animal models for biomedical research; however, interspecies differences in gut microbiota, immune function, and metabolism remain major barriers. To address this, we established gut microbiota-humanized (GMH) pigs by transplanting human fecal microbiota into antibiotic-treated pigs. We systemically evaluated alterations in microbiota composition, serum metabolites, and immune cell profiles using integrated metagenomic, quasi-targeted metabolomic and single-cell transcriptomic (scRNA-seq) analyses. Metagenomic profiling revealed a shift in the intestinal microbiota of GMH pigs toward a human-like composition, characterized by enrichment of <i>Bacteroidia</i> and depletion of <i>Bacilli</i>. Metabolomic analysis showed that GMH pigs exhibited serum metabolite profiles more closely resembling those of humans. Among 423 detected serum metabolites, 136 that were lower in control pigs than in humans were upregulated in GMH pigs, whereas 79 that were elevated in control pigs decreased post-transplantation. Notably, pathways related to tryptophan metabolism, bile acid biosynthesis, and fatty acid metabolism were enhanced in GMT pigs, while carbon-related and glycolytic pathways were attenuated, indicating partial convergence toward human metabolic phenotype. Integration of microbial and metabolite data identified 20 and 33 metabolites associated with <i>Bacteroidia</i> and <i>Bacilli</i>, respectively. scRNA-seq profiling of peripheral blood mononuclear cells demonstrated transcriptional and compositional remodeling of T cells, monocytes, and B cell subsets in GMH pigs. These findings demonstrated that human fecal microbiota can reshape both systemic metabolic and immune artitecture in pigs, offering a robust large-animal platform for studying host-microbiota interactions and advancing translational application in xenotransplantation and microbiome-based therapeutics.

iMetaOmics.Vol. 2(3)
Shenzhen University (CN), Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN), Peking University (CN), Peking University People's Hospital (CN), State Key Laboratory of Synthetic Chemistry (CN), Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology (CN), Institute of Zoology (CN)
National Natural Science Foundation of China, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Natural Science Foundation for Young Scientists of Shanxi Province, Young Scientists Fund, National Key Research and Development Program of China
Openalex Percentile: Top 27%
Gut microbiota and health
0.81
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