-
Frontiers in Microbiology 2022Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is one of the most common complications of type 2 diabetes mellitus. The current study investigates the composition, structure, and function of...
OBJECTIVE
Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is one of the most common complications of type 2 diabetes mellitus. The current study investigates the composition, structure, and function of gut microbiota in DR patients and explores the correlation between gut microbiota and clinical characteristics of DR.
METHODS
A total of 50 stool samples were collected from 50 participants, including 25 DR patients and 25 healthy controls (HCs). 16S ribosomal RNA gene sequencing was used to analyze the gut microbial composition in these two groups. DNA was extracted from the fecal samples using the MiSeq platform.
RESULTS
The microbial structure and composition of DR patients were different from that of HCs. The microbial richness of gut microbiota in DR was higher than that of normal individuals. The alterations of microbiome of DR patients were associated with disrupted Firmicutes, Bacteroidetes, Synergistota, and Desulfobacterota phyla. In addition, increased levels of , , _group, , and , and decreased levels of , _group, , , , , and genera were observed in the DR groups. Additionally, a stochastic forest model was developed to identify a set of biomarkers with seven bacterial genera that can differentiate patients with DR from those HC. The microbial communities exhibited varied functions in these two groups because of the alterations of the above-mentioned bacterial genera.
CONCLUSION
The altered composition and function of gut microbiota in DR patients indicated that gut microbiome could be used as non-invasive biomarkers, improve clinical diagnostic methods, and identify putative therapeutic targets for DR.
PubMed: 36081798
DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2022.926926 -
Journal of Personalized Medicine Dec 2020Obesity is a major risk factor for developing gallstone disease (GSD). Previous studies have shown that obesity is associated with an elevated ratio in the gut... (Review)
Review
Obesity is a major risk factor for developing gallstone disease (GSD). Previous studies have shown that obesity is associated with an elevated ratio in the gut microbiota. These findings suggest that the development of GSD may be related to gut dysbiosis. This review presents and summarizes the recent findings of studies on the gut microbiota in patients with GSD. Most of the studies on the gut microbiota in patients with GSD have shown a significant increase in the phyla (Lactobacillaceae family, genera , , , , , , and ), ( genus), , (genera , , and ) and a significant decrease in the phyla (family , and genera , , , , ), (genera , , , and ), ( genus), and ( genus). The influence of GSD on microbial diversity is not clear. Some studies report that GSD reduces microbial diversity in the bile, whereas others suggest the increase in microbial diversity in the bile of patients with GSD. The phyla (especially family ) and ( genus) are most commonly detected in the bile of patients with GSD. On the other hand, the composition of bile microbiota in patients with GSD shows considerable inter-individual variability. The impact of GSD on the / ratio is unclear and reports are contradictory. For this reason, it should be stated that the results of reviewed studies do not allow for drawing unequivocal conclusions regarding the relationship between GSD and the / ratio in the microbiota.
PubMed: 33375615
DOI: 10.3390/jpm11010013 -
Frontiers in Veterinary Science 2023
PubMed: 37822953
DOI: 10.3389/fvets.2023.1285992 -
Hypertension (Dallas, Tex. : 1979) Jun 2023Sex differences in the pathogenesis of hypertension exist. While gut microbiota (GM) has been associated with hypertension, it is unclear whether there are sex-linked...
BACKGROUND
Sex differences in the pathogenesis of hypertension exist. While gut microbiota (GM) has been associated with hypertension, it is unclear whether there are sex-linked differences in the association between GM and hypertension.
METHODS
We conducted a cross-sectional study to investigate the sex differences in associations between GM characterized by shotgun sequencing, GM-derived short-chain fatty acids, and 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure in 241 Hong Kong Chinese (113 men and 128 women; mean age, 54±6 years).
RESULTS
The hypertensive group was associated with GM alterations; however, significant differences in β-diversity and GM composition in hypertensive versus normotensive groups were only observed in women and not in men under various statistical models adjusting for the following covariates: age, sex, body mass index, sodium intake estimated by spot urine analysis, blood glucose, triglycerides, low- and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, smoking, menopause, and fatty liver status. Specifically, , , and were significantly more abundant in the hypertensive women, whereas was more abundant in the normotensive women. No bacterial species were found to be significantly associated with hypertension in men. Furthermore, total plasma short-chain fatty acids and propionic acid were independent predictors of systolic and diastolic blood pressure in women but not men.
CONCLUSIONS
GM dysregulation was strongly associated with 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure in women but not men, which may be mediated through propionic acid. Our work suggests that sex differences may be an important consideration while assessing the role of GM in the development and treatment of hypertension.
Topics: Humans; Male; Female; Middle Aged; Blood Pressure Monitoring, Ambulatory; Propionates; Gastrointestinal Microbiome; Sex Characteristics; Cross-Sectional Studies; Hypertension; Blood Pressure; Essential Hypertension
PubMed: 37073724
DOI: 10.1161/HYPERTENSIONAHA.122.20752 -
Nutrients May 2023Advanced glycation end products (AGEs) are involved in age-related diseases, but the interaction of gut microbiota with dietary AGEs (dAGEs) and tissue AGEs in the...
BACKGROUND
Advanced glycation end products (AGEs) are involved in age-related diseases, but the interaction of gut microbiota with dietary AGEs (dAGEs) and tissue AGEs in the population is unknown.
OBJECTIVE
Our objective was to investigate the association of dietary and tissue AGEs with gut microbiota in the population-based Rotterdam Study, using skin AGEs as a marker for tissue accumulation and stool microbiota as a surrogate for gut microbiota.
DESIGN
Dietary intake of three AGEs (dAGEs), namely carboxymethyl-lysine (CML), -(5-hydro-5-methyl-4-imidazolon-2-yl)-ornithine (MGH1), and carboxyethyl-lysine (CEL), was quantified at baseline from food frequency questionnaires. Following up after a median of 5.7 years, skin AGEs were measured using skin autofluorescence (SAF), and stool microbiota samples were sequenced (16S rRNA) to measure microbial composition (including alpha-diversity, beta-dissimilarity, and taxonomic abundances) as well as predict microbial metabolic pathways. Associations of both dAGEs and SAF with microbial measures were investigated using multiple linear regression models in 1052 and 718 participants, respectively.
RESULTS
dAGEs and SAF were not associated with either the alpha-diversity or beta-dissimilarity of the stool microbiota. After multiple-testing correction, dAGEs were not associated with any of the 188 genera tested, but were nominally inversely associated with the abundance of , , , and , in addition to being positively associated with , , and . A higher abundance of was associated with a higher SAF, along with several nominally significantly associated genera. dAGEs and SAF were nominally associated with several microbial pathways, but none were statistically significant after multiple-testing correction.
CONCLUSIONS
Our findings did not solidify a link between habitual dAGEs, skin AGEs, and overall stool microbiota composition. Nominally significant associations with several genera and functional pathways suggested a potential interaction between gut microbiota and AGE metabolism, but validation is required. Future studies are warranted, to investigate whether gut microbiota modifies the potential impact of dAGEs on health.
Topics: Humans; Glycation End Products, Advanced; RNA, Ribosomal, 16S; Diet; Gastrointestinal Microbiome; Multivariate Analysis; Skin
PubMed: 37299529
DOI: 10.3390/nu15112567 -
The American Journal of Clinical... May 2024The health benefits of the Mediterranean diet (MedDiet) have been linked to the presence of beneficial gut microbes and related metabolites. However, its impact on the... (Randomized Controlled Trial)
Randomized Controlled Trial
Effect of 1-year lifestyle intervention with energy-reduced Mediterranean diet and physical activity promotion on the gut metabolome and microbiota: a randomized clinical trial.
BACKGROUND
The health benefits of the Mediterranean diet (MedDiet) have been linked to the presence of beneficial gut microbes and related metabolites. However, its impact on the fecal metabolome remains poorly understood.
OBJECTIVES
Our goal was to investigate the weight-loss effects of a 1-y lifestyle intervention based on an energy-reduced MedDiet coupled with physical activity (intervention group), compared with an ad libitum MedDiet (control group), on fecal metabolites, fecal microbiota, and their potential association with cardiovascular disease risk factors.
METHODS
A total of 400 participants (200 from each study group), aged 55-75 y, and at high cardiovascular disease risk, were included. Dietary and lifestyle information, anthropometric measurements, blood biochemical parameters, and stool samples were collected at baseline and after 1 y of follow-up. Liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry was used to profile endogenous fecal metabolites, and 16S amplicon sequencing was employed to profile the fecal microbiota.
RESULTS
Compared with the control group, the intervention group exhibited greater weight loss and improvement in various cardiovascular disease risk factors. We identified intervention effects on 4 stool metabolites and subnetworks primarily composed of bile acids, ceramides, and sphingosines, fatty acids, carnitines, nucleotides, and metabolites of purine and the Krebs cycle. Some of these were associated with changes in several cardiovascular disease risk factors. In addition, we observed a reduction in the abundance of the genera Eubacterium hallii group and Dorea, and an increase in alpha diversity in the intervention group after 1 y of follow-up. Changes in the intervention-related microbiota profiles were also associated with alterations in different fecal metabolite subnetworks and some cardiovascular disease risk factors.
CONCLUSIONS
An intervention based on an energy-reduced MedDiet and physical activity promotion, compared with an ad libitum MedDiet, was associated with improvements in cardiometabolic risk factors, potentially through modulation of the fecal microbiota and metabolome. This trial was registered at https://www.isrctn.com/ as ISRCTN89898870 (https://doi.org/10.1186/ISRCTN89898870).
Topics: Humans; Diet, Mediterranean; Gastrointestinal Microbiome; Middle Aged; Male; Female; Aged; Exercise; Metabolome; Feces; Life Style; Cardiovascular Diseases
PubMed: 38428742
DOI: 10.1016/j.ajcnut.2024.02.021 -
Molecular Brain Feb 2023Metabolites secreted by the gut microbiota may play an essential role in microbiota-gut-central nervous system crosstalk. In this study, we explored the changes...
BACKGROUND
Metabolites secreted by the gut microbiota may play an essential role in microbiota-gut-central nervous system crosstalk. In this study, we explored the changes occurring in the gut microbiota and their metabolites in patients with spinal cord injury (SCI) and analyzed the correlations among them.
METHODS
The structure and composition of the gut microbiota derived from fecal samples collected from patients with SCI (n = 11) and matched control individuals (n = 10) were evaluated using 16S rRNA gene sequencing. Additionally, an untargeted metabolomics approach was used to compare the serum metabolite profiles of both groups. Meanwhile, the association among serum metabolites, the gut microbiota, and clinical parameters (including injury duration and neurological grade) was also analyzed. Finally, metabolites with the potential for use in the treatment of SCI were identified based on the differential metabolite abundance analysis.
RESULTS
The composition of the gut microbiota was different between patients with SCI and healthy controls. At the genus level, compared with the control group, the abundance of UBA1819, Anaerostignum, Eggerthella, and Enterococcus was significantly increased in the SCI group, whereas that of Faecalibacterium, Blautia, Escherichia-Shigella, Agathobacter, Collinsella, Dorea, Ruminococcus, Fusicatenibacter, and Eubacterium was decreased. Forty-one named metabolites displayed significant differential abundance between SCI patients and healthy controls, including 18 that were upregulated and 23 that were downregulated. Correlation analysis further indicated that the variation in gut microbiota abundance was associated with changes in serum metabolite levels, suggesting that gut dysbiosis is an important cause of metabolic disorders in SCI. Finally, gut dysbiosis and serum metabolite dysregulation was found to be associated with injury duration and severity of motor dysfunction after SCI.
CONCLUSIONS
We present a comprehensive landscape of the gut microbiota and metabolite profiles in patients with SCI and provide evidence that their interaction plays a role in the pathogenesis of SCI. Furthermore, our findings suggested that uridine, hypoxanthine, PC(18:2/0:0), and kojic acid may be important therapeutic targets for the treatment of this condition.
Topics: Humans; Gastrointestinal Microbiome; Dysbiosis; RNA, Ribosomal, 16S; Spinal Cord Injuries; Feces
PubMed: 36803646
DOI: 10.1186/s13041-023-01014-0 -
Journal of Asthma and Allergy 2023Recent studies had shown that gut microbiota played a significant role in the development of the immune system and may affect the course of airway allergic disease. We...
PURPOSE
Recent studies had shown that gut microbiota played a significant role in the development of the immune system and may affect the course of airway allergic disease. We conducted this study to determine unique gut microbial associated with allergic disease in children by shotgun gene sequencing.
METHODS
We collected fecal samples from children with allergic asthma (n = 23) and allergic rhinitis (n = 18), and healthy control (n = 19). The gut microbiota of specimens was analyzed by high-throughput metagenomic shotgun gene sequencing.
RESULTS
The intestinal microbiota of children with allergic asthma and allergic rhinitis was characterized by increased microbial richness and diversity. Simpson and Shannon were significantly elevated in children with allergic asthma. Principal coordinates analysis (PCoA) showed that the gut microbial communities cluster patterns of children with asthma or rhinitis were significantly different from those of healthy controls. However, no significant difference was found between asthma group and rhinitis group At the phylum level, higher relative abundance of Firmicutes was found in the allergic rhinitis group and allergic asthma group, while the level of Bacteroidetes was significantly lower. At the genus level, Corynebacterium, Streptococcus, Dorea, Actinomyces, Bifidobacterium, Blautia, and Rothia were significantly enriched in the allergic asthma group. Finally, a random forest classifier model selected 16 general signatures to discriminate the allergic asthma group from the healthy control group.
CONCLUSION
In conclusion, children in the allergic rhinitis group and allergic asthma group had altered gut microbiomes in comparison with the healthy control group. Compared to healthy children, the gut microbiome in children with allergic diseases has higher pro-inflammatory potential and increased production of pro-inflammatory molecules.
PubMed: 37700874
DOI: 10.2147/JAA.S422537 -
Gut Microbes 2024Probiotics are exploited for adjuvant treatment in IBS, but reliable guidance for selecting the appropriate probiotic to adopt for different forms of IBS is lacking. We... (Randomized Controlled Trial)
Randomized Controlled Trial
Probiotics are exploited for adjuvant treatment in IBS, but reliable guidance for selecting the appropriate probiotic to adopt for different forms of IBS is lacking. We aimed to identify markers for recognizing non-constipated (NC) IBS patients that may show significant clinical improvements upon treatment with the probiotic strain DG (LDG). To this purpose, we performed a post-hoc analysis of samples collected during a multicenter, double-blind, parallel-group, placebo-controlled trial in which NC-IBS patients were randomized to receive at least 24 billion CFU LDG or placebo capsules . for 12 weeks. The primary clinical endpoint was the composite response based on improved abdominal pain and fecal type. The fecal microbiome and serum markers of intestinal (PV1 and zonulin), liver, and kidney functions were investigated. We found that responders (R) in the probiotic arm (25%) differed from non-responders (NR) based on the abundance of 18 bacterial taxa, including the families , spp. and , which were overrepresented in R patients. These taxa also distinguished R (but not NR) patients from healthy controls. Probiotic intervention significantly reduced the abundance of these bacteria in R, but not in NR. Analogous results emerged for from the analysis of data from a previous trial on IBS with the same probiotic. Finally, was positively correlated with the plasmalemmal vesicle associated protein-1 (PV-1) and the markers of liver function. In conclusion, LDG is effective on NC-IBS patients with NC-IBS with a greater abundance of potential pathobionts. Among these, has emerged as a potential predictor of probiotic efficacy.
Topics: Humans; Irritable Bowel Syndrome; Treatment Outcome; Gastrointestinal Microbiome; Constipation; Probiotics; Eubacterium; Double-Blind Method; Diarrhea
PubMed: 38178601
DOI: 10.1080/19490976.2023.2298246 -
International Journal of Molecular... May 2021Sustainability of aquaculture is tied to the origin of feed ingredients. In search of sustainable fish meal-free formulations for rainbow trout, we evaluated the effect...
Sustainability of aquaculture is tied to the origin of feed ingredients. In search of sustainable fish meal-free formulations for rainbow trout, we evaluated the effect of meal (H) and poultry by-product meal (P), singly (10, 30, and 60% of either H or P) or in combination (10% H + 50% P, H10P50), as partial replacement of vegetable protein (VM) on gut microbiota (GM), inflammatory, and immune biomarkers. Fish fed the mixture H10P50 had the best growth performance. H, P, and especially the combination H10P50 partially restored α-diversity that was negatively affected by VM. Diets did not differ in the Firmicutes:Proteobacteria ratio, although the relative abundance of Gammaproteobacteria was reduced in H and was higher in P and in the fishmeal control. H had higher relative abundance of chitin-degrading and , and . was also higher in H feed, suggesting feed-chain microbiome transmission. P increased the relative abundance of protein degraders and Bacteroidales. IL-1β, IL-10, TGF-β, COX-2, and TCR-β gene expression in the midgut and head kidney and plasma lipopolysaccharide (LPS) revealed that the diets did not compromise the gut barrier function or induce inflammation. H, P, and H10P50 therefore appear valid protein sources in fishmeal-free aquafeeds.
Topics: Animal Feed; Animal Proteins, Dietary; Animals; Aquaculture; Biomarkers; Diet; Gastrointestinal Microbiome; Head Kidney; Inflammation; Insecta; Oncorhynchus mykiss; Poultry; Poultry Products
PubMed: 34064267
DOI: 10.3390/ijms22115454