Dietary tryptophan mitigates lung ischemia-reperfusion injury via microbiota-derived indole-3-propionate and aryl hydrocarbon receptor signaling.

BACKGROUND

Lung ischemia-reperfusion (IR) injury drives early morbidity after lung transplantation and cardiothoracic surgery, yet targeted preventive therapies are lacking. The gut-lung axis and microbiota-derived tryptophan metabolites, including indole-3-propionate (IPA), may regulate pulmonary immunity and inflammation. We investigated whether a tryptophan-rich (Trp-Rich) diet attenuates sterile lung IR injury by increasing microbiota-derived indole metabolites and reprogramming alveolar macrophage (AM) inflammatory responses.

METHODS

C57BL/6 mice received isocaloric tryptophan-standard (Trp-Std; 0.18%) or Trp-Rich (0.60%) diets for 14 days, then underwent unilateral left lung IR (60 min ischemia followed by 60 min reperfusion). Oxygen saturation, lung cytokines, and aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) signaling readouts ( Cyp1a1 / Cyp1b1 ) were evaluated. Gut microbiota was profiled by 16S rRNA sequencing, and targeted metabolomics quantified tryptophan metabolites in feces, portal vein (PV) plasma, and lung tissue. To further assess inflammatory priming in vivo , mice were additionally challenged with intratracheal lipopolysaccharide (LPS). Mechanistic studies compared IPA with related indole metabolites in MH-S cells and primary human AMs, including ex vivo nutritional IR, LPS stimulation, and AhR stimulation and blockade using synthetic agonists and antagonists.

RESULTS

Trp-Rich feeding improved post-IR oxygenation, reduced lung IL-1β, and increased pulmonary Cyp1a1 / Cyp1b1 gene expression. Trp-Rich diet remodeled the gut microbiota, including enrichment of Bifidobacterium and Lactobacillus , and increased IPA levels across feces, PV plasma, and lung tissue, with lower kynurenine/IPA ratios across matrices. In the LPS intratracheal challenge, Trp-Rich feeding reduced IL-6 levels in lung tissue and systemic plasma. Primary murine AMs isolated from Trp-Rich mice also showed reduced IL-1β and IL-6 release in an ex vivo nutritional IR model. Among tested indole metabolites, IPA showed the strongest dose-dependent suppression of LPS-induced cytokines and chemokines in MH-S cells and primary human AMs, remained active in the ex vivo nutritional IR model, and its anti-inflammatory effect was abrogated by AhR blockade and enhanced by co-treatment with other indole metabolites.

CONCLUSIONS

A Trp-Rich diet attenuated sterile lung IR injury, coinciding with gut microbiota remodeling, increased systemic and pulmonary IPA, reduced inflammatory priming, and reprogrammed AM responses. These data support diet- or microbiome-directed strategies targeting IPA-AhR signaling to mitigate perioperative lung IR injury.