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Gut Microbiota Regulates Systemic Inflammatory Response and Compensatory Anti-Inflammatory Response Syndromes by Targeting PF4<sup>+</sup> Macrophages in Acute Pancreatitis

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Editor's note
Dysbiosis may drive the runaway immune swings that kill acute pancreatitis patients—not merely accompany it. This work moves beyond correlation to propose a mechanistic link between a single keystone species and immune paralysis via macrophage signaling, supported by both mouse and human evidence with a testable intervention. Gastroenterologists, critical care specialists, and pancreatitis researchers should evaluate whether microbiota repletion could stabilize the inflammatory seesaw.

Source: europepmc · Origin: CN · Liu L, Li G, Lu D, Ding H, Lu T, Sui Y, Zhang C, Xie Y, Kong R, Chen H, Bai X, Tan H, Xue D, Meng X, Li L, Sun B. · Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) · 2026-05-26

URL: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/42189125/

AI rationale (4/5, tier: emerging): Demonstrates dysbiosis-disease mechanism (keystone species Bacteroides) with host immune pathway in AP; mouse + human data with testable intervention.


Acute pancreatitis (AP) begins with pancreatic local inflammation, leading to the onset of systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS), followed by compensatory anti-inflammatory response syndrome (CARS), which causes immune paralysis and higher mortality rate. We have demonstrated that AP disrupts the balance of the gut microbiota that aggravates disease progression; however, the role of gut microbiota in the development of SIRS/CARS remains poorly understood. Here, we observed a lower abundance of Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron (B. thetaiotaomicron) that increased the infiltration of PF4+ macrophages in AP patient and mouse models, which, in turn, promoted the recruitment of Th2 cells and neutrophils and exacerbated SIRS/CARS. Supplementation with B. thetaiotaomicron increased the expression of the enzyme N-methyltransferase (NMMT) and enhanced the production of 1-methylnicotinamide (1MNA) in the gut epithelial cells, which inhibited PF4+ macrophages dependent SIRS/CARS by targeting ELF4, a transcript factor of PF4. Our findings provide novel interventions for AP patients with SIRS/CARS through modulating gut microbiota.

Published 2026-05-28 · Last kit-update 2026-05-28