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Published on: October 5, 2015
Alterations of gut microbiota in patients with active pulmonary tuberculosis in China: a pilot study
Wenpei Shi1, Yi Hu1, Zhu Ning2
1Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health and Key Laboratory of Public Health Safety (Ministry of Education), Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
Background:
The aim of this study was to identify the differences in diversity, composition, and function of the gut microbiota between tuberculosis (TB) patients and healthy controls (HCs).
Methods:
A cross-sectional study was conducted in three cities of China. Stool samples from 94 treatment-naive TB patients and 62 HCs were analyzed by 16S rRNA gene sequencing. TB patients were further divided into antibiotic-free and antibiotic-exposure according to their use of non-specific antibiotics before the TB diagnosis.
Results:
Compared with HCs, antibiotic-free TB patients presented a different gut microbial community (P < 0.005) and decreased Shannon diversity (P < 0.005). Among TB patients, the relative abundances of short-chain fatty acid (SCFA)-producing genera such as Lachnospiraceae ND3007 group (log2(FC) = -2.74) were lower, while several conditional pathogen-related genera such as Enterococcus (log2(FC) = 12.05) and Rothia (log2(FC) = 6.322) were at higher levels. In addition, 41% of patients received antibiotics before TB diagnosis. Antibiotic exposure was correlated with an additional reduction in α diversity and depletion of SCFA-producing bacteria. Microbial functional analysis revealed that the biosynthesis capacity of amino acids and fatty acids was lower among TB patients compared to HCs.
Conclusions:
Significant alterations in gut microbiota composition and metabolic pathways of TB patients were observed. Antibiotic exposure could alter the gut microbiota of TB patients, which should be considered in anti-TB treatment.
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