Low potassium disrupt intestinal barrier and result in bacterial translocation

BACKGROUND: Bacterial translocation was observed in critical illness and patients with chronic diseases such as liver cirrhosis and chronic kidney disease (CKD). Hypokalemia is a common complication in these diseases. Whether low potassium diet may increase intestinal permeability and result in bacterial translocation lack of evidence. The present study was aimed to investigate the potential effects of LK on intestinal permeability. METHODS: Grade 8-week-old male Bal B/C mice were randomly placed either on a normal potassium (NK) mouse chow or a low potassium (LK) diet for 28 days. Intestinal permeability and expression of tight junction proteins were compared between the two groups. RESULTS: Compared with the NK group, the mice in LK group had significantly lower serum potassium level, increased levels of plasmas endotoxin and plasma d-lactate. The bacterial translocation was higher and in occurred mainly in mesenteric lymph nodes (MLN), liver and spleen. The pathologic change of small intestine was obvious with thinner villus lamina propria, shorter crypt depth and thinner intestinal wall. Slight increases in the expression of proteins and mRNA levels of both claudin-1 and claudin-2 were observed in LK group. CONCLUSIONS: Low potassium diet could increase intestinal permeability and thereby lead to bacterial translocation, which was suspected to result from impaired intestinal epithelial barrier and biological barrier. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12967-022-03499-0.