Pentachlorophenol Exposure Delays the Recovery of Colitis in Association With Altered Gut Microbiota and Purine Metabolism

ABSTRACT Pentachlorophenol (PCP) was used widely as preservative and biocide and has been banned due to with various harmful effects, such as carcinogenicity and teratogenicity. However, the effects of PCP on colitis induced by dextrose sodium sulfate (DSS) remain largely unknown. Serum metabolomics and gut microbiota were investigated to elucidate the underlying mechanisms. Exposure to 20 μg/L PCP aggravated DSS‐induced body weight loss, colon shortening, severe histological injuries, and upregulation of TNFα, iNOS, IL‐1β, and IL‐6. Serum metabolomics showed that both DSS and PCP could significantly disrupted tryptophan metabolism in normal mice. Interestingly, PCP exposure intensified the disturbance in purine metabolism but not tryptophan metabolism caused by DSS. Quantitative analysis of tryptophan and metabolites further confirmed that PCP exposure significantly increased the serum contents of serotonin, adenine, guanine, guanosine, inosine monophosphate (IMP), inosine, and hypoxanthine in DSS‐treated mice. The overall gut microbial community was significantly modified by PCP and DSS treatment alone. Rikenellaceae_RC9_Gut_group, Colidextribacter, and Desulfovibrio were more abundant in colitis mice following PCP exposure. Further integrative analysis of differential bacteria and purine metabolites highlighted a significant correlation between Desulfovibrio and several purine metabolites, including guanine, guanosine, hypoxanthine, IMP, and inosine. Adenosine ribonucleotides de novo biosynthesis, inosine‐5′‐phosphate biosynthesis I, and urate biosynthesis/inosine 5′‐phosphate degradation pathways were depleted in colitis mice upon PCP treatment. Taken together, PCP exposure delayed the recovery of colitis induced by DSS in association with altered gut microbiota and serum metabolites, which were enriched in tryptophan and purine metabolism.