Insulin resistance is associated with specific gut microbiota in appendix samples from morbidly obese patients

Alterations in intestinal microbiota composition could promote a proinflammatory state in adipose tissue that is associated with obesity and insulin resistance. Our aim was to identify the gut microbiota associated with insulin resistance in appendix samples from morbidly obese patients classified in 2 groups, high (IR-MO) and low insulin-resistant (NIR-MO), and to determine the possible association between these gut microbiota and variables associated with insulin resistance and the expression of genes related to inflammation and macrophage infiltration in adipose tissue. Appendix samples were obtained during gastric bypass surgery and the microbiome composition was determined by 16S rRNA pyrosequencing and bioinformatics analysis by QIIME. The Chao and Shannon indices for each study group suggested similar bacterial richness and diversity in the appendix samples between both study groups. 16S rRNA pyrosequencing showed that the IR-MO group had a significant increase in the abundance of Firmicutes, Fusobacteria, Pseudomonaceae, Prevotellaceae, Fusobacteriaceae, Pseudomonas, Catenibacterium, Prevotella, Veillonella and Fusobacterium compared to the NIR-MO group. Moreover, in the IR-MO group we found a significant positive correlation between the abundance of Prevotella, Succinovibrio, Firmicutes and Veillonella and the visceral adipose tissue expression level of IL6, TNF alpha, ILB1 and CD11b respectively, and significant negative correlations between the abundance of Butyricimonas and Bifidobacterium, and plasma glucose and insulin levels, respectively. In conclusion, an appendix dysbiosis occurs in IR-MO patients, with a loss of butyrate-producing bacteria, essential to maintenance of gut integrity, together with an increase in mucin-degrading bacteria and opportunistic pathogens. The microbiota present in the IR-MO group were related to low grade inflammation in adipose tissue and could be useful for developing strategies to control the development of insulin resistance.