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©The Author(s) 2026. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Diabetes. Jan 15, 2026; 17(1): 112885
Published online Jan 15, 2026. doi: 10.4239/wjd.v17.i1.112885
Published online Jan 15, 2026. doi: 10.4239/wjd.v17.i1.112885
Role of gut microbiota in lead-induced neural damage in diabetic mice
Wen-Jia Ding, Xin-Yi Tang, Zhi-Bin Shang, Xu Liang, Tao Tao, Ru-Xi Liu, Qiong-Yun Jiang, Yan-Fang Qiu, Yi Sun, Department of Toxicology, Guilin Medical University, Guilin 541000, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China
Chao-Qun Liu, School of Medicine, Jinan University, Guangzhou 510000, Guangdong Province, China
Co-first authors: Wen-Jia Ding and Chao-Qun Liu.
Author contributions: Ding WJ designed the methodology; Liu CQ validated the study; Tang XY performed formal analysis; Shang ZB and Liang X conducted animal experiments; Ding WJ curated the data; Ding WJ and Sun Y wrote the original draft; Sun Y reviewed and edited the manuscript; Tao T, Liu RX, and Jiang QY contributed to data analysis; Qiu YF administered the project; Liu CQ and Sun Y acquired the funding. Ding WJ and Liu CQ contributed equally to this work as co-first authors.
Supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China, No. 82060586; Natural Science Foundation of Guangdong Province, No. 2023GXNSFAA026122; China Scholarship Council, No. 202208455012; and National Guangxi College Students Innovation and Entrepreneurship Training Program, No. S202410601154, No. X202310601246, and No. X202310601245.
Institutional animal care and use committee statement: All procedures involving animals were reviewed and approved by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee of Guilin Medical University.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors of this manuscript have no conflicts of interest to disclose.
ARRIVE guidelines statement: The authors have read the ARRIVE guidelines, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the ARRIVE guidelines.
Data sharing statement: No additional data are available.
Open Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Yi Sun, Department of Toxicology, Guilin Medical University, No. 1 Zhiyuan Road, Lingui District, Guilin 541000, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China.
Received: August 13, 2025
Revised: September 19, 2025
Accepted: November 28, 2025
Published online: January 15, 2026
Processing time: 159 Days and 3.3 Hours
Revised: September 19, 2025
Accepted: November 28, 2025
Published online: January 15, 2026
Processing time: 159 Days and 3.3 Hours
Core Tip
Core Tip: This study identified the additive effects of concurrent lead exposure and diabetes on neurotoxicity and provided a preliminary exploration of the mechanisms by which the gut microbiota regulated the brain differential protein expression and ultimately affected neurological function, based on proteomics and gut microbiota analysis.